Mystic Force: Dark as the Night
by thunderyoshi
Summary: Arriving in Briarwood with her brother, Electra is dragged into the world of magic when an earthquake breaks open the seal to the underworld. Electra finds her powers are even more of a threat to the world, and when the mysterious silver ranger appears, it's a race against time to recruit her.
1. Broken Spell Part 1

Chapter 1: Broken Spell Part 1

The bus travelled along an almost empty road, only carrying a few passengers. One of whom was an 18 year old male whose head was leaning against the window as he slept peacefully. A rucksack was sitting in the chair beside him, swaying occasionally as the bus turned the corner. Finally it fell on the boy, who woke with a jolt before frowning, pushing the rucksack off him and rubbing his brown eyes. He heard muffled laughter from the seats beside his, and he glanced over, glaring at his older sister as she covered her mouth.

"Why'd you even come with me Electra?" Vincent Davies, the youngest of the three siblings, grumbled in annoyance.

"Because Master Mao told me to," Electra, the middle sibling and something of a Ranger legend, smirked back at him. "Probably to keep an eye on you and your womanising ways," she teased, and his glare intensified as she returned to her book.

The bus pulled up in the terminal where everyone clambered out, glad to be in the fresh air again. Vincent was especially glad. He was never one to enjoy being cooped up for so long. Heaving his rucksack up onto his shoulders, he waited for Electra to grab her own, much smaller bag, and they headed towards what was to be their new home for several months.

Electra had complained about having to move yet again. It had only been a year since she had moved back to Blue Bay Harbour. Before that, she had lived in Reefside for a year, and the year before that, she had lived in Blue Bay Harbour for just under a year.

"Hey, at least it's paid for," Vincent smirked to Electra as he saw her face. He'd been much more excited about moving out. When he wasn't in the Pai Zhuq temple, he was at home with their parents just outside of Ocean Bluff, which was exceptionally awkward considering their mother was still refusing to speak with Electra.

"You have a good point," she nodded with a grin. She just hoped the place was nice.

"Why have you only got that bag with you anyways?" Vincent asked as he finally seemed to register how small Electra's bag was.

"I'm gonna grab the rest of my crap tonight. Didn't see the point in lugging it all with me now," Electra told him, and Vincent rolled his eyes. He had to admit, he was jealous of her powers, which she now used freely in front of him and on him, now that he knew of her time as a Power Ranger. Of course, what he didn't realise was that they were her Dino powers.

The two walked through Briarwood, taking in the sights, and talking about what was going to happen for the next year. Vincent was still struggling to figure out what he needed to become a Master, and Master Mao had sent him to Briarwood to find out. He had sent Electra with her, cryptically telling her that she would be needed.

"Hey, check this place out," Vincent stopped outside a music shop, and Electra glanced around to see him wander in. She sighed and followed him inside, not very surprised.

"Hey, welcome to Rock Porium," an Australian voice greeted the two as they walked in, curious to see what it was like. "Can I help you with anything?" an 18 year old stood behind the counter, grinning at Electra charmingly. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You're new to Briarwood, aren't you?" a girl with black hair and a single streak of white greeted them from the deck in the corner before Electra could speak, and she slipping the headphones off to walk over with a boy with red hair wielding a plunger.

"Yeah, we just got in today. We're staying here for a couple of months. I'm Vincent," the brown haired teen smiled at them, offering his hand.

"And I'm Electra, his older sister," Electra added with a grin, and Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Do you always have to point out that you're older than me?" he grumbled, and she nodded.

"Name's Vida. This is Chip. The self-proclaimed 'Xander the Great' is behind the counter, and that's Madison, my sister" Vida introduced all the workers. Vincent and Electra nodded, looking around.

"So, you into music?" Xander asked as he leaned on the counter to survey the newcomer.

"Would I have wandered into a music store if I felt otherwise?" Vincent countered with a smirk. Electra laughed quietly. "I actually play guitar myself, and my last one got a little broken last year, so I'm in need of a new one," he stated. Xander, always one to smell a sale, suddenly seemed to materialise beside the Pai Zhuq student.

"I just followed him in," Electra shrugged, and took a seat. She pulled a motocross magazine from her bag, and opened it as Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Walk this way my friend, and you shall see the collection of guitars we sell," the smooth talking Australian guided Vincent towards the collection of guitars, and Vincent stopped to survey each one, his eyes darting over them and taking in each detail.

"Mind if I try one?" he asked, and Xander nodded, taking a seat on the couches as Vincent took a black and orange guitar from the rack and strapped it around his chest. He played a few notes, before beginning to play properly. Xander looked impressed as the other workers stopped messing around to listen. Maddie had her camera out, and had been originally filming Chip fighting invisible pirates, and began to film the 18 year old as he played a soft melody. Even Electra looked up, a little surprised. She hadn't heard him perform since he first started learning.

Electra suddenly shivered, and looked up to see a man at the door in scuba gear, dripping wet. The others followed their gaze and suddenly snapped to attention at the sight of their boss.

"Hey...nice snorkel boss," Xander rushed over with his workmates, and reached out to touch Toby's snorkel, only to have his hand slapped away.

"Weren't you taking the day off?" Vida questioned as she stood beside her sister. Toby went to speak, but his voice was muffled since the snorkel was still in his mouth. After he pulled it out and removed his mask, he looked to the short haired sister.

"Yes I was," he stated as Chip and Vincent attempted to hide their grins at the ridiculous sight. Electra watched curiously as she took in the sight of the man. "As a matter of fact, I was at the beach, snorkelling with the little fishies," Vincent looked at Chip as Toby gestured madly with his hands, wondering if they were used to this. Judging by Chip's amused look, they were. "And one came right up to my mask, and he looked at me, with his big fish eyes, and he said..." Toby then put his hands to his face, squishing it up. ""Are your employees cleaning the store, like they said they would?" As the employees of Rock Porium laughed at this, Toby lowered his hands. "Now I have to go back to the water, back to the reef, find the fish, and tell him...no!" he then stomped through the store, wearing flippers, and Xander followed him quickly.

"Don't worry boss! I'll assemble the troops, assign them things to do. Sweep the floors, stock the shelves, put out the trash, etc etc!" Xander turned to his friends as they looked at him as if to say 'you're kidding'.

"Oh, you mean, do the jobs, I pay you for," Toby scowled, before going into his office.

"Alright, you heard the man! Snap to it! Chip, grab a broom! Madison, deal with the stock, and Vida, throw out the trash. Snap snap!" Xander smirked as he turned and jumped onto a seat, grabbing his discarded magazine. Vida scowled and stomped over as Vincent watched her in amusement. She grabbed the cushion under Xander's head, yanking it away to get his attention. Electra peered over her own magazine as she watched them.

"And what are you doing?" she challenged, but Xander just grinned.

"Glad you asked. I'm supervising," he told her. Vida glared at him. "Hey, it's not as easy as it looks! I know it looks like I'm not doing anything, but I'm actually very busy," he told her, tapping his head. "Up here," he whispered.

"Stuff goes on 'up there'?" Vincent asked Vida, making her smirk as Electra snorted. Just as Xander went to retort, the shop began to shake.

"Earthquake!" Xander shouted as he leapt up and dove under a table.

"Everyone take cover!" Vida called as she followed suit.

"It's the end of the world!" Chip shouted as Maddie went to hide. She grabbed him and yanked him under the counter as Vincent skidded under the desk with Vida and Xander, still holding the guitar strapped around his chest. Electra ducked under a table too, tossing her magazine aside as the shop shook wildly.

"Don't panic! Don't panic! Remember the safety procedures!" Toby shouted as he opened the door to his office. "Get under a desk!" he rushed back into his office as Xander put on his skateboarding helmet.

Finally the shaking subsided, and both Maddie and Chip crawled out from under the counter.

"Is it over?" Madison asked, looking around the shop.

"I'm alive!" Chip grinned in excitement. Maddie walked out to survey the damage to the shop as the others emerged from their cover too.

"Oh great...the store is messier than before," Maddie sighed, looking around at the magazines and records scattered all over the floor.

"You'd have thought that wouldn't be possible," Vida muttered.

"Well, the good news is the worst is over," Xander told them, flipping the helmet in his hands. Electra frowned. Something told her that it wasn't.

1-2-3-4-5

"After narrowly escaping death, the human species copes with it in different ways," Maddie told the camera as she filmed her friends and herself. She looked to Xander, who kicked his skateboard up into his hands and grinned at the camera. "Some use physical activity," she then looked over to where Vincent was playing his new guitar beside Vida, who was reading a magazine. "Some play music, and some listen," Vincent looked up and winked as Maddie smiled at him. "Some call their friends," the camera was turned to where Electra was standing, on the phone with Letha. "And some eat," Maddie walked over to where Chip was opening a box of pizza. "Tell me Chip Thorn, what type of pizza are you eating?" Maddie questioned as Chip took a bite.

"Shrimp, chicken, pepperoni, cheese," Chip swallowed and pulled a marshmallow off the pizza, "and chocolate marshmallows" Madison scrunched up her face in disgust.

"A fine example of the non-human species," she told the camera.

"Somebody, please help me!" all of them looked around quickly as an elderly man cried out. Electra looked around, saying a quick goodbye to her friend, before running over. Swinging his guitar onto his back, Vincent leapt off Vida's jeep and ran over to the man with Vida and her friends close behind. "It's my brother!" the man exclaimed. "We were walking just up the road, and some creature grabbed him," he told them as more people gathered around. "I fear the worst," He told the crowd in a panic. "It's just out of town. A creature took him into the woods," he told them, and everyone seemed to freeze.

"Imagine that V, him asking for someone to go into the woods" Xander smirked, not seeing the expression on Vida's face. "V?"

"Won't somebody please help me?" the man asked again.

"Of course, I'll help," Electra frowned at the lack of response from anyone else, and stepped forwards.

"Me too," Vincent nodded with a smile.

"So will I" another voice made everyone look around. A young man kneeling in front of his bike. "I could use a break" the young man got to his feet after tossing a spanner back into a box.

"Thank you. All of you" the man smiled gratefully at Electra, Vincent and the other guy.

"Hey," Xander stopped the three as they went to follow the old man. "I'm Xander. You're new around here, aren't you?" he asked the other guy. "Probably not aware of all the facts. And there's just one. If you go into those woods, you don't come out," Xander told them.

"I heard about it," the stranger said, before looking at the old man. "The guy needs help. No one else in this city seems to care," he replied.

"I didn't know, nor do I care," Vincent shrugged. "I've always been taught that if someone needs help, help them," he stated.

"And I've been through a lot worse than allegedly haunted woods," Electra rolled her eyes.

"I'll go with you," Vida said as the three went to go off. "Not everyone in this city is a coward," Vincent smiled at her, and Vida nodded determinedly.

"I'll go too! I've always wanted to go on a dangerous quest!" Chip bounced forward excitedly. He then paused and glanced to his friend. "This is a dangerous quest, right?" he asked her.

"Perilous" Vida told him, much to Chip's delight.

"Sweet!" the five then turned and followed the old man, leaving Maddie and Xander behind.

1-2-3-4-5

The old man stopped at a sign that warned those who came near not to enter, followed by the four teenagers.

"Are you sure you're willing to enter?" the man questioned. "The woods are a very scary place" he told them.

"You ask a lot of questions for one whose brother's in danger," Vincent narrowed his brown eyes at the old man suspiciously.

"Everyone's in danger," the old man replied.

"Oh, I really don't like the sound of that," Electra muttered, folding her arms as she watched them man.

"Everyone's in danger? Oh, yeah!" Chip bounced excitedly, while Vida and Vincent watched him.

"Is he always this excited about dangerous stuff?" Vincent asked, and Vida nodded with a sigh. Suddenly there was a loud beep, and they all looked around to see Xander and Maddie driving Vida's jeep.

"Xander! I told you if you ever took my car I'd rearrange your limbs!" Vida yelled at the cocky Australian.

"You're going into the woods and never returning. As if you're going to see it again," Xander replied as he climbed out and gave Vida her keys.

"He's got a point" Chip told Vida, and earned a glare. Vincent laughed, and also received a glare from the girl.

"You're my sister. Where you go...I go," Maddie told Vida, albeit slight hesitant in finishing that sentence.

"And so there are 7…" the old man muttered, and Electra looked at him quickly, frowning slightly. She _really _didn't like the sound of that.

They began to walk through the forest, slowly moving ahead. Too preoccupied with the silent forest, none of them realised that the old man had slowed to a halt and disappeared. Vincent suddenly shivered, and Madison stopped.

"What was that? I felt something...something weird," she stated.

"Same here," Vincent looked around, before frowning. "Anyone notice we're now missing a member of this rescue party?" he asked.

"Where's the old man?" the stranger asked, looking around.

"Ten seconds in the woods and we're already lost," Chip grinned in excitement. "And not just trolls, goblins and elves live in the woods, too," he told them as the 6 kept moving. "I've also heard that a witch lives here," he said. "She's hideous! With green skin and a black tongue with yellow drool that slowly drips from the corner of her mouth when she speaks!" Chip described, much to everyone's disgust.

"That's the Wizard of Oz dude," Vincent told him, shifting the guitar still sitting on his back.

"No way! It's real!" Chip defended.

"You've been reading too many fairy tales, friend," the other guy told Chip. "Guys, there's no such thing as witches," he told them as everyone turned to look at him. Suddenly they froze, staring past him. "Oh, ok," he noticed the looks, and rolled his eyes. "So now you're playing with me. Ooh, someone's behind me, I'm so scared! Boo!" he exclaimed, and Vincent gulped.

"Wish it was just a joke dude, but there is someone there!" he told him, and the guy glanced around quickly.

A figure dressed in all black stood there, and as the stranger cried out in shock, she ran towards the terrified group.

"Anybody want to run?" Maddie asked.

"Already tried, but my feet won't move," Xander whimpered. Vincent tried to will himself to move, but he as he finally did, strange creatures leapt into the clearing. Electra instantly slipped into a fighting stance.

"She brought friends!" Vida called as the creatures surrounded them. Just as Vincent stepped forward with a frown, the strange woman yelled out, and the 7 were caught by broomsticks that lifted them through the air and dropped near a huge tree.

"Ok, so, new guys. Now you know why no-one goes into these woods," Xander sniped as they all got to their feet.

"Oh shut up," Electra told him, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, what's your name? I never got to ask" Vincent told the stranger, who shoved his hands in his jeans.

"Name's Nick," he told the 18 year old, who grinned at him.

"What is this place?" Vida asked as she looked at the huge dragon head carved into the side of the tree.

"I call it Rootcore," another voice made them look around quickly, and they saw the black cloaked woman again. She began to walk towards them, and the 7 backed into the dragon's mouth, just as it closed.

The 7 stumbled into a dark room just as the woman spoke again. "I thought it best you were brought here," she told them.

"Hi, I'm Xander. It's a really nice place you got here. It's really..." he trailed off as he looked around. "Woody..." he knocked on the table to emphasize his point. The woman then raised her hand and the 7 brooms appeared in a strange display that was lit up in 7 different colours. Electra was finding everything far too familiar for her liking.

"I am the sorceress Udonna," the woman lifted off the cloak to reveal herself, wearing all white. "Welcome to my home," she raised her hands and the lights flickered on, with computers turning on around the room.

"Wow...this is awesome!" Chip, ever the excitable one, spoke up.

"When the seven of you entered the forest, you stepped into a magical dimension," Udonna explained.

"A parallel dimension outside of Briarwood..." Chip grinned, looking to his friends. "Do we live in a great city or what?" he asked happily.

"A few years ago, there was a great battle in our world," Udonna appeared in front of the group. "Dark magic conquered our realm and was about to enter your dimension, when we finally defeated them and sent them back to the Underworld. But at a great cost," Udonna sighed. "The gate was sealed with a powerful spell," she told them. "However, during the recent earthquake, a crack appeared in the gate and evil has slipped through," she told them.

"Man...Master Mao really chose a great place for us to stay," Vincent muttered to Electra.

"Something tells me he knew," Electra muttered back to him, tempted just to leave.

"Remember me? Xander," the Australian spoke up. "Look, I'm just wondering, what does that have to do with us?" he questioned.

"It could mean the end for both our worlds."

"Please!" Nick laughed. "None of us are buying this fairy tale," he told her, but he looked like the only one who didn't.

"This is not a fairy tale," Udonna replied as she walked up some steps. "What I tell you is what happened," she told them.

"Guys," Nick started, looking to the others.

"Come on dude, she just saved our lives from those weirdo monsters. Let's hear what she has to say," Vincent said to him, giving a weak smile to the frustrated teen. "It's not like we can't leave after," he reminded him.

"The Xenotome. The book of the unknown," Udonna spoke up again, encouraging them to come and see. "In it is everything we do not know," they peeked at the book as a picture appeared with strange writing.

"What kind of language is that?" Madison asked. "I've never seen it before," she stated.

"It is the language of the ancients," Udonna smiled at the curious girl. "You will soon learn it," she told her. "It says that when evil arise again, seven mystical warriors from the human realm will step forward," she read. Electra's eyes widened. No. This wasn't happening again. "You are those warriors," she told them. "You...are the Power Rangers," Vincent nearly started laughing as she said this.

"Nice!" Chip exclaimed.

"Nooooo…" Electra groaned, putting her hands to her head. "I moved to this damn city for some relaxation…I'm going to kill Mao for this…I'm going to," she muttered as Vincent grinned at her.

"Excuse me, but there must be some mistake," Xander told Udonna. "How are we gonna defeat pure evil?" he questioned. "Our high school hasn't even won a football game in, like, six years," he said.

"These are your magic wands," Udonna held up 7 different coloured wands as if that answered Xander's question. As Chip was handed one with a yellow bird symbol at the top, it began to glow. Maddie was handed one with a blue fin at the top similar that also shone briefly. Vida's had a pink butterfly, while Electra's had a black claws, and Vincent's had a gold fox head. "Never go anywhere without them," Udonna told them as Xander took his, the green bull head glowing as he did. Nick reluctantly took his, and the red bird symbol at the top shone.

"Udonna! Udonna!" another voice called out, and a flustered young woman with blonde hair ran in and up to Udonna. "Oh, hello!" she realised that Udonna had company, and froze. "Nice to meet you. Excuse me," the panicked girl turned to Udonna and whispered in her ear.

"You must stay here until I return," Udonna suddenly told the 7, much to their surprise. "Do not go into the woods by yourselves," she told them, before snapping her fingers and disappearing.

"You were saying?" Nick questioned Vincent, who laughed weakly as he examined his wand. Electra hit hers off her head, still complaining.

"Wish I could do that..." the flustered girl sighed as she attempted to disappear by snapping her fingers. "I practise and I practise but...nothing," she complained, before remembering that there were others there. "Oh...hello, again," she smiled. "I'm Claire, sorceress in training here at Rootcore," she introduced herself, before Nick shook his head.

"Ok, that's it, I'm outta here," he decided, going to walk past Claire.

"Oh, no. You can't go," Claire blocked his path quickly. "Udonna said you had to stay here till she returned," she told them, but Maddie stepped forward, deciding enough was enough.

"We all better go," she went to put her wand down and leave quickly.

"Oh, this is not good," Claire gulped. "I know! I will conjure a spell that will freeze you where you stand until Udonna gets back!" Claire decided. Each of the teens backed away as Claire struggled to remember the spell. As she spoke in a strange language, lights surrounded her, but instead of freezing them, she changed into a sheep.

"Ok, and that is the limit to how much weird I can handle," Vincent decided, setting his wand down and leaving Rootcore, closely followed by the others. Electra hesitated, looking at the wand in her hand, before setting it down as well.

"The last time I took something weird I'd never seen before, I ended up with Dino Powers. I've learned from my mistakes," she decided, and followed the others out quickly.

1-2-3-4-5

The seven ran through the forest, looking for the way out, before skidding to a stop as they saw a small camp, filled with odd looking creatures rooting through a destroyed village.

"Look," Maddie breathed.

"Who are they?" Xander wondered aloud as they stared in shock.

"More like _what _are they?" Vincent corrected as he stared at the young woman with large fairy wings.

"I should have known you wouldn't stay at Rootcore," Udonna's voice made them jump and look around as she walked over.

"What happened here?" Maddie asked, pushing past Nick to walk over to the strange sorceress.

"Woodland Village was destroyed. Tomorrow it will be another village," Udonna told them gravely. "The darkness destroys everything within their path, until they find what they want," the 7 looked around at the destruction that lay around them.

"What are they looking for?" Chip asked.

"Me," Udonna admitted. "And then they will go after you."

"Hold on just a sec. I never agreed to be part of this," Nick told her as the others were stunned into silence.

"It is them!" a voice called out in joy. "It is them!" a young elf called out to the other villagers, earning the six teenagers attention. "The protectors are here!" the other creatures rushed over and they bowed. "Hail the Mystic Force!"

"Always wondered what it would be like to be worshipped," Xander smirked. "It's not so bad," Vincent rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Like you need the extra boost to your ego," he taunted, before the ground shook and they looked up as a shadow fell over them. "Uhh...what the hell is that thing?" Vincent stepped back as a huge creature towered over them and roared at them.

"Ok, that's bad," Xander stated unnecessarily. The monster roared again, and the villagers fled.

"Take out your wands!" Udonna instructed.

"Uh...we kinda left them back at the tree," Chip admitted.

"Alright...stand back," Udonna told them, turning to face the monster. "You leave me no choice," she said, drawing her own wand. "MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed into a white suit. "Flurry of Snow! White Mystic Ranger!" Udonna called as she held her snow staff.

"Now that's cool," Vida decided. They watched as Udonna easily avoided the monster's attacks, before Nick noticed that they weren't alone.

"Guys, we have company," he announced, and they backed away as Vincent raised his fists, falling into his fighting stance.

"As I see it, we have two choices," Chip determined as he surveyed the strange monsters. "We can surrender and be destroyed..."

"Or fight?" Madison asked in disbelief.

"Let us handle this!" Vincent started forward, only for Xander to grab his shoulder.

"No, no, there's a third option. Plan Xander," he told the 18 year old, who stared at him as Xander looked forward at the monsters. "I'll just reason with them," he decided, walking forward.

"That isn't going to work," Electra stared at him as if he were insane.

"Hi, I'm Xander. We're not really from these parts, so if it's ok with you, we'll just be heading off-"

"Watch it!" Vincent noticed one about to attack, and pulled Xander back. "Call to the beast inside! Unlock the Fox!" he yelled. There was a growl and his fox spirit leapt from his stance, coated in a golden aura as it rammed into the monsters and sent them flying.

"What the-?" Vincent sighed as he knew the others were staring at him as his fox spirit disappeared.

"Oh, you so didn't need to do that," Electra growled. "We'll explain later. Right now, we have no choice but to fight," she turned to look at the others, who nodded as the monsters recovered from the surprise attack. They then blasted the seven, flooring them before rushing in.

Vincent leapt to his feet and backflipped, kicking one upside the head as it got too close. He blocked a punch and delivered two of his own, grabbing a box and slamming it into one before feeling his feet knocked out from under him. As he was floored, he heard Udonna call out to them.

"Just remember, to use magic, all you need to do is believe in magic!" she called to them. Vincent leapt to his feet, fighting more of them off. He looked around as Chip suddenly blasted several with lightning, and raised an eyebrow.

"Guys! The magic really works!" the red head yelled to them. Vincent smirked, turning his attention back to the surrounding monsters. "Just believe!" Chip shouted.

Electra blasted the monsters back with her Dino powers, but more came at her, forcing her backwards.

"Like I ever doubted it! I believe in magic!" she yelled, and her eyes turned black as darkness rose from the ground, grabbing the monsters and surrounding them. It suddenly disappeared, and the monsters crashed to the ground, twitching. "Holy crap, now that's a boost to my powers," Electra let out a shaky laugh as her eyes returned to their normal brown. She saw vines shoot out from the tree Xander had been thrown against, before water burst out of the ground around Maddie.

"I believe in magic!" Vincent called as his back pressed against a tree. Thunder boomed around them, and what seemed like a sonic boom slammed into the monsters about to attack him. "Now that was cool," he grinned widely.

"Whoa! I'm a tornado! And I'm pink?!" Vincent looked up as Vida changed into a tornado, sending the monsters surrounding her flying. "I like! Well...all except the colour," she muttered, and Vincent chuckled as he moved past her.

"I think it suits ya," he winked, and Vida felt her cheeks mottle the same colour as her tornado had just been moments ago. Electra slapped her brother's arm as she passed, and he laughed lightly as he rubbed his arm. They saw Udonna destroy the giant monster, before turning to Nick as he was thrown through the air. Udonna blasted the monsters about to attack him, before demorphing.

"Well well, very nice," Udonna smiled as the other 6 regrouped. "You truly are the ones. Are you up to the task?" she asked. "Are you now ready to accept your legacy?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! Bring it on!" Chip told her with an excited grin.

"I'm in!" Vida agreed. "I kicked some serious evil back there."

"I can hardly say no now, can I?" Electra shrugged, knowing that it was too late to turn back. The magic had taken hold, just like her other powers.

"This is so unlike me, but I'm sticking with my sister," Maddie told them, stepping forward as Vincent smirked.

"Same here," he nodded, and Electra shot him a scowl.

"Someone's gotta look after these guys, right?" Xander spoke up, grinning widely at his friends, before looking to Nick with the others.

"Me? No way. I'm outta here," Nick told them, rubbing his sore neck.

"Are you sure this is what you choose?" Udonna asked as she stepped forward.

"Look, the 'I believe in magic' thing, it didn't work for me," he told them.

"Try believing again. Maybe it didn't catch on the first time," Maddie suggested with a smile, but Udonna shook her head.

"He is a non-believer," she told them sadly. "I can do nothing for him," Udonna stated. "Claire will see you out of the woods safely," she told Nick. "Claire!" she called.

"Here I am!" Claire bleated as she walked into view, still in the form of a sheep.

"Oh my dear child," Udonna laughed as she saw the sheep. "When will you get your spells right?" she laughed as the others couldn't help but grin. "See him safe passage out of the woods," she instructed the sheep.

"Yes Udaaaana," Claire bleated, turning and leading Nick away.

As Nick disappeared off into the woods, another figure appeared out of nowhere, wearing a purple ranger suit.

"You may have defeated my Hidiacs, but you'll not defeat me," the stranger told them as the 6 rangers plus Udonna looked around quickly. The knight drew his sword. "Wolf attack!" he called, and his shield opened up to blast them with dark magic. "It is the end for you," the knight told them as the 7 struggled to get up, looking up at the powerful knight.

**Welcome to my Mystic Force story! I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**This was originally only going to have Vincent become a Ranger, but then while I was supposed to be revising my mind wandered and I ended up planning out the whole thing with Electra as a Ranger too.**

**Ended up with another job interview on Thursday, so the next update won't be until Thursday at some point, assuming I get time between that and packing and preparing for Qcon. Seriously, I can't wait for this weekend.**


	2. Broken Spell Part 2

**I should say that all I own are the OC characters! Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Broken Spell Part 2

"On your feet," the knight ordered, and the 7 got to their feet. "Darkness has come," Electra rolled her eyes at his words.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Madison stated nervously.

"I do not know you warrior, but if it is a battle you want, I am ready to fight," Udonna told him.

"Hold on, let me try and reason with him," Xander insisted.

"That didn't work last time, moron," Electra growled, ready to fight if necessary, even without a morpher.

"Hi, the name's Xander," the Australian spoke, and the knight sheathed his weapon with a loud clank.

"I am Koragg. The Knight Wolf," he then spoke a strange language. Nearby, a huge, strange seal appeared on the ground, and a large horse emerged as the ground shook. "Ride out from the depths!"

"So much for reasoning!" Xander gulped as Koragg leapt up, growing much larger and combining with the horse.

"Power of the Centaur!" he called.

"A Centaur! A real Centaur!" Chip breathed. "I want one!" he demanded.

"Do these guys not get that we're in a life threatening situation or something?" Electra hissed to Vincent, who was staring up at the massive Centaur.

"You are now just _pebbles _beneath my hooves!" Koragg mocked, rearing up.

"Get back! You are not ready to fight his kind," Udonna warned them, stepping forwards. "I am," she stepped forwards.

"Wait! You can't take him alone!" Vincent yelled, but Xander pulled him back.

"He's all yours!" the Australian called to Udonna, who called on her wand again.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed into her white suit. "White Mystic Ranger!" she called, and cast a spell to grow to Koragg's size. She attacked, but he easily repelled it.

"Darkness destroys light," he warned her gravely. Udonna ran at Koragg again, and was battered back as he reared up, before she attacked with her staff.

"Haven't I see you before, wizard?" she questioned curiously. "You are too familiar."

"And you too witch, but that will not stop me from destroying you!" Koragg called. "Behold the eye of the master!" his shield opened up, and glowed red, blasting Udonna. Before she could recover, Koragg caught her with his sword and she collapsed. "You are defeated," Udonna shrank down to her normal size and demorphed, and her staff landed nearby.

"Udonna!" Madison called as they ran over to help the fallen sorceress. Koragg shrank down as well, and lifted the staff.

"I will spare all of you, so you will witness the terror and destruction that unfolds on your land," Koragg told them gravely. "Remember this day," he told them. "You will wish it was your last," before they could stop him, he conjured another spell and disappeared into the ground, leaving the group with their injured mentor while snow gently fell from the sky.

1-2-3-4-5

"Without my snow staff, I cannot fight anymore," Udonna told the six who stood in Rootcore with her. "I can train you in the ways of magic," she told them, and they grinned with excitement. Even Electra couldn't deny the appeal of learning magic. "Claire!" Udonna called for the sorceress in training.

"Coming!" Claire, still a sheep, bleated as she ran into view.

"Oh child..." Udonna laughed, shaking her head. She stood up and cast a spell, returning Claire to her human form.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Claire complained. "Do you know how warm it was under all that wool?" she grumbled as the others laughed.

"If I do everything for you, then will you ever learn?" Udonna questioned as Claire got to her feet, brushing her blonde hair from her face. "This time, go nowhere without them," Udonna returned the wands to the new rangers.

"Uhuh...we learned our lesson," Xander agreed as he took back his own. "But to tell you the truth, walking around town, carrying a wand...well, it may be good for Chip," he glanced to his friend, who was already playing with his own.

"Yeah, it's a bit, uh...weird," Vincent summed up with a grin as Claire smiled to Udonna.

"Very well," Udonna smiled, and cast another spell, this time transforming their wands into devices that looked like phones. "I hope you find these more to your generations liking," she smirked as Electra examined the morpher that was very different to the two she had worn before.

"Cell phones, very cool," Vida nodded as she opened her own.

"They are your Mystic Morphers," Udonna told them. "They are activated by spell codes, that you will come to learn on your journey," she explained. "Now go back to the city, live your normal lives, and wait until you're needed," Udonna instructed, becoming serious. "And remember, there is evil everywhere, and you are best served speaking to no-one about what has happened," she suggested, and they nodded.

"Keep it secret. Makes sense," Vincent nodded, looking to Electra as she pocketed her new morpher, still looking a little irritated over becoming a Ranger again.

"I can show them out of the woods," Claire offered eagerly.

"No," Udonna turned to her apprentice, shaking her head. "They must find their own way. Just remember, the trees are your passage," she then turned back to the new rangers, smiling cryptically.

"Can nobody give a straight answer anymore?" Electra wondered aloud, making Vincent laugh quietly. He knew how cryptic Master Mao could be.

1-2-3-4-5

"How could a tree be our...passage?" Chip asked as they wandered through the forest a few minutes later. He touched a tree, and disappeared as he was sucked into it. The others stopped instantly, staring at it in shock before Chip reappeared. "Whoa, guys, it's so cool! Touch the tree and bam! Flying through roots and vines and twigs and bark and...just think of the tree in front of the record shop, it really works!" he insisted.

"No, no, no, there's no way that this-" Xander's words were instantly cut off as he disappeared through the tree.

"It's like he didn't see Chip disappear through it already," Vincent chuckled, and they all followed through, crashing straight into the very confused Xander. They all crashed to the ground, groaning and laughing. They quickly got up before they attracted attention, and walked back to Rock Porium.

"Did you just...through the tree?" Toby was standing outside, looking very confused. The six just looked blank as they walked past him, into the shop.

1-2-3-4-5

As the four workers tried to start tidying the wrecked shop, Vincent provided music with his new guitar, and Electra read another magazine.

"Hey, Electra?" her brown eyes darted up over her magazine as Vincent spoke, his music quietening down a little. "You've been reading those motocross magazines a lot more lately. I know you read a couple to hear about Blake, but not as many as you have been lately. Are you thinking about starting up again?" he asked, and she frowned.

"Yeah...a little while ago I started thinking about it again. I dunno why," Electra shrugged. "It'd give me something to do, I mean I don't have much else to do here. When I was in Blue Bay Harbour I was usually working in Storm Chargers or hanging out with Hunter and Letha and the others, and in Reefside I was doing a lot of work for my classes," she told him, returning to her magazine.

"You should go for it. It'd be cool. And with dad's genes, you'd be pretty awesome," Vincent chuckled, before returning to his playing.

"Hey, Nick's outside," Madison went out to go talk to him, and Electra's eyes shot up.

"Now that'll be an interesting development...if he sticks around," she smirked, and Vincent glanced around.

"Who knows...he seems pretty set on not being part of our team," he shrugged, and Electra just shook her head and returned to her magazine.

"You guys could help out you know," Vida grumbled to the two still sitting.

"I don't clean," Electra replied lightly, still smirking as she turned her page.

"We're not on the payroll, why should we help?" Vincent asked as he continued to play. "Besides, I'm providing motivational music," he smiled at her, and Vida rolled her eyes, walking off. "She's pretty cute..." he commented, and Electra scoffed.

"You're an idiot," Vincent looked over at her, and frowned.

"Like you can talk," he retorted. They glanced around as Madison walked back in, looking a little dejected.

"At least I have a boyfriend," Electra smirked back, and Vincent's frown increased. "Speaking of which..." Electra set her magazine down and pulled out her morpher.

"Didn't Udonna tell us not to tell anyone?" Vincent reminded her, and Electra glanced back up.

"Only to avoid evil finding out or something. I'll talk to her about it later," she decided, pocketing her morpher again. No sooner had she done so, did they start beeping. "Knew it was only a matter of time," Electra grumbled, jumping up as Vincent set his guitar down and looked to the others.

"Come on!" Vida called, and they ran out of Rock Porium and down the street, unaware of Nick talking to Udonna.

1-2-3-4-5

Running through a magical tree, the six appeared in the forest, and slowed to a stop when they realised that they were wearing different clothes.

"Check out the uniforms!" Madison laughed as they studied them.

"And cloaks!" Chip spun around, hitting Xander with his cloak in the process while Vincent dodged it.

"Cloaks? Really?" the fox student studied his with a mild frown. "I really hope this doesn't mean we get cloaks with our suits," he commented.

"I hate pink..." Vida grumbled again.

"At least I'm black again...if it was crimson I would have been out of here..." Electra muttered, too quietly for the others to hear. She was contemplating on whether or not she should tell them about her history as a ranger, as in her experience, it was never kept quiet for long. They all looked up when they heard a loud noise, and looked around at a bright seal that appeared in the ground.

"Save it for the complaints department later Vida," Xander warned the grumpy teen carefully. "Look," he gestured over to the seal, as several monsters appeared in it.

"I hope everyday isn't going to be like this," Madison mumbled.

They ran at the Hidiacs that appeared from the seal, and started to fight. However, the only two who managed to hold their own were Electra and Vincent, but even they were quickly overwhelmed and thrown to the ground.

"She said we'd know when to use our wands!" Chip exclaimed as he was grabbed by several of the Hidiacs. "I think this is the time!"

"Y'think?!" Vida growled.

"Let's ranger up!" Xander called, and they regrouped to face the Hidiacs again.

"Attempt number 2," Electra smirked, and they pulled off their cloaks and lifted their morphers from a pouch by their sides. They flipped them open, and pressed the code to activate them.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Dark as the night! Black Mystic Ranger!"

"Disruptive as thunder! Gold Mystic Ranger!"

Morphed and ready, the six ran at the Hidiacs, and this time strength was on their side. Electra couldn't help but smile as she felt the familiar strength of the suit flow through her. After taking out a few with punches and kicks, she drew her Magi Staff.

"Let's see what kind of fancy new tricks I have up my sleeves," she held it out, and darkness shot from it, slamming into the monsters and surrounding them. It exploded, and the Hidiacs crashed to the ground.

"I knew there was going to be a cape..." Vincent grumbled as he drew his own staff. He raised it into the air and swung down, creating a clap of thunder that hit his enemies like a sonic boom.

Soon enough, the Hidiacs were all defeated and the Rangers regrouped, congratulating each other before there was a clap of thunder above. The sky went black, and lightning flashed, before laughter echoed around the forest. Purple light lit up the forest as Koragg appeared from another seal.

"I'm back," he announced as he straightened up.

"Koragg!"

"Right!"

"This time you won't win!"

"We can take him!" the six stood together, ready to fight, but Koragg just laughed.

"You can try...but you are no match," he held up his hand, and purple light shot from it. "I call on my sword from the darkness!" he summoned his sword and shield, and drew the sword. "This is your end," he told them.

"The amount of times I've been told that..." Electra muttered under her breath.

"Ok...now what?" Xander frowned.

"Now you will feel the power of dark magic!" the shield opened and red light shot from it, colliding with the rangers and throwing them to the ground.

"Oh I forgot how much stuff like that hurts," Electra groaned as she clutched at her stomach.

"I will not be merciful this time," Koragg told them, walking towards them.

"Can't we talk this over?" Xander tried, but Koragg just raised his sword over him. "Guess not!"

"You're doomed," Koragg prepared to strike. "Any last words?" he asked, before the dull roar of a motorbike reached their ears.

"Yeah! Just one!" a familiar voice called out, and Nick rode into view, leaping off his bike. "Hyah!" his foot slammed into Koragg's shield and shoved the dark knight back, and Nick landed lightly, still wearing his helmet. "Come on!" Nick challenged him.

"Now there are seven..."

"I guess there are," Nick pulled his helmet off. Koragg raised his sword, and ran at the young man. "This is as good a time as ever to start believing in magic..." Koragg swung his sword down and Nick raised his hands. A bright red light appeared in his hands, blocking the sword and stopping it from hitting him. "I do believe in magic!" Nick yelled, and threw Koragg back with his new power. Red lights surrounded him, and when they faded, Nick stood in a similar uniform to the rest of them, and his morpher appeared in his hand. He pulled off his cloak, and activated his morpher. "MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE!" he morphed into a red suit.

"Red ranger..."

"Way to go Nick!"

"He believes!"

"Well it's about time..."

"Fearsome as fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Prove to me your worthiness! Battle my forces!" Koragg barked as he recovered from Nick's surprising strength. "Hidiacs arise!" the monsters reappeared, and Nick leapt towards them.

"You fight with words? So be it!" he called, and drew his staff as a Hidiac leapt at him. "Magi Staff! Do your thing!" Nick shouted, and red light shot from the staff, turning the Hidiac into a ball. "Nice! Who doesn't love soccer? Let's have some kicks!" he slammed his foot into the ball, and wiped out more of the monsters with it. The remaining Hidiacs ran towards him. "Magi Staff! Sword Mode!" he ran at them, avoiding their attacks, and made quick work of the Hidiacs. "I summon the power of the Phoenix!" Nick ran through the last of them, creating magical fire that was the same colour as his suit. "That's hot," he snapped his fingers, and the fire exploded, taking out the last of the monsters. "I guess it works after all."

"Nick! That was awesome!" Chip cheered as they ran over to him.

"Mystic Force?"

"Mystic Force!" the group put their hands together in a circle.

1-2-3-4-5

"Hey guys...now that we're a team, you feel like helping?" Xander asked Nick, Electra and Vincent as they stood together.

"I fight soulless mutants...I don't clean," Nick replied.

"I knew we were going to get on well," Electra clapped him on the shoulder.

"Same goes for me," Vincent smirked, and Vida nudged him.

"Then outta the way bucko," she smirked back at him, and Vincent's grin grew. Electra just rolled her eyes.

"Ok," he moved aside, and Vida walked on past with a box.

"But as a wise old woman asked...do you believe in magic?" Nick asked.

"You think?" Vida frowned, curious and hopeful.

"Well...I believe..." Madison drew her morpher and opened it, before pointing it at the fallen records. They shot back up onto the shelves, back in order.

"It works!" Chip activated his own morpher, and animated a broom. "Sweep like lightning!" he cheered as Xander used his magic to carry the bin bags out the back. Vida used her magic to lift some fallen CDs, and before long the shop was filled with floating records, guitars, magazines, and everything else. Xander nearly took out Chip, and Electra looked around as she noticed someone entering the shop.

"Someone's coming!" she called a warning to them, and Vida quickly moved the boxes back into place.

"Ok! I knew you wouldn't...uh..." Toby trailed off as he looked around his spotless shop. "You would...it's clean...very clean...it's the cleanest it's ever been..." he commented in utter confusion. "Maybe it's too clean...maybe it's lost it's edge," he worried, making them laugh quietly. "Have I become a megashop?" Toby panicked.

"Hello?" a voice called out, and they all looked around at a pretty blonde girl who had just walked in. "I'm new in town, can somebody help me?" she asked, and instantly both Xander and Chip shot over to her.

"That'll be me!"

"No no, me!" Chip insisted. The girl looked from one to the other, before her eyes settled on someone else.

"Um...I want...him..." she shoved the two aside and walked over to Nick.

"Uh, sorry, but I don't work here," Nick smiled weakly. Electra tilted her head, sensing something off about the girl. Her animal spirit was slightly fuzzy, like Randall's had been, only not to such an extent. She made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

"You know Toby, you really gotta hire these guys!" Madison told her boss as she gestured to the two young men standing by the office door, and both Vincent and Nick shook their heads quickly. "They were _instrumental _in cleaning the store," she explained.

"Hey, I wasn't looking for a job..." Nick growled to the blue ranger.

"Me neither," Vincent frowned.

"Who's the greatest guitarist ever?" Toby asked.

"It's gotta be Jimmy but-" both of them went to speak, but the man cut them off.

"You're hired," he decided, and shook their hands. "Now help the customer," Toby instructed as Electra put a hand to her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.

"You have good taste in music," Vincent grinned weakly to Nick as Leelee linked arms with Nick and pulled him away.

"My name's Leelee...and yours?"

"I'm in trouble..." Nick looked around with a frown at the others, who just laughed.

**I hope you liked it! I was out at my job interview until about half 10 last night so I didn't get anything written, but I figured I should probably at least finish Broken Spell before I disappear for the weekend.**

**Thanks for all your awesome reviews on chapter one!**


	3. Code Busters

Chapter 3: Code Busters

_Opening her eyes, Electra let out an audible sigh as she looked around a peaceful field that was surrounded by trees. A gentle wind picked up, pushing her hair from her face and rustling the grass that she walked barefoot through._

"_A Ranger once again I see," Electra turned and looked up to where Anya sat in a tree, smiling down with a face that was identical to Electra's. "You really can't say no, can you?" she asked as her golden eyes turned to the young woman looking up at her._

"_Could you?" Electra challenged, and Anya laughed gently._

"_Of course not. But you know that already. We are one and the same, after all," Anya jumped out of the tree and landed gently, her hands behind her back. "I come with a warning, Noa," Electra rolled her eyes._

"_Of course you do," she replied in a flat voice, not commenting on the use of her real name. She'd long since given up attempting to get Anya to call her anything but that._

"_Beware the Dark forces that dwell in the Forest, Noa. They covet your powers of darkness, and your control. Do not let them gain either, or it will be the end of mankind," Anya warned._

"_Can you for once give me a straight warning. Like, y'know, 'watch out for this guy, he's going to be turned evil and try to kill you,' or maybe 'don't use your powers in the Abyss of Evil or you'll turn evil too'?" Electra spoke in a flat voice._

"_I can't, Noa. You know that. You must experience these things for yourself," Anya told her. "You are simply not ready to know everything," Electra just huffed and looked away. She was sick of her past self telling her these things._

1-2-3-4-5

Minding her own business as she collected supplies for Udonna, Claire walked through the forest, humming to herself. The peace was soon shattered, however, as the Rangers shot overhead, cheering loudly as they flew through the forest.

"Looking a little slow there pinky! Bet you can't catch me!" Vincent taunted as he shot ahead.

"No-one calls me pinky!" Vida called, and shot after him as the others cheered her on.

"Go get him V!" Xander called, and Vida chased after the laughing fox student. He glanced around to mock her more, and nearly crashed into a tree. Vida laughed as she shot past him.

"Now who's in the lead, goldie?" she mocked.

"That'd be me!" Chip called as he passed Vida.

"Hah! You wish!" Electra taunted as she moved even faster, passing him easily and nearly knocking him off.

"Dismount!" Nick called, and they leapt off, demorphing and landing lightly on the ground. Their Mystic Racers turned back into broomsticks and fell down, and they caught them easily.

"Very good Rangers," Udonna praised. "That's enough Mystic Racer practise for today," she decided, and both Chip and Vida voiced their complaints.

"Oh come on? Just one more lap around the forest?" Chip pleaded.

"Yeah, I was just getting warmed up!" Vida agreed. "I wanna see what this bad boy can do! And kick Vincent's butt while I'm at it," she smirked to the gold ranger, who grinned back.

"I'm afraid not, it's time for elementary incantations," Udonna decided.

"Urgh, boring!" Vida, Chip, Vincent, Nick and Xander exclaimed.

"Hey...I think that sounds kinda interesting," Madison smiled as she walked past them.

"And hey, you could always train with me instead," Electra slung an arm over her brother's shoulder.

"No way," he pushed her away and she laughed as they headed back to Rootcore.

"Udonna, the Mystic Racers are _amazing_, but now that we're Power Rangers, don't we get lots of other cool stuff too?" Vida asked their mentor curiously.

"Aw yeah! I mean no-one's more excited than me to finally get to wear a cape!"

"Finally?" Xander cut Chip off with a smirk. "If I remember, you used to come to school with a pillowcase pinned to your back," he reminded the yellow ranger, making them all laugh.

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago," Chip brushed it off.

"That was last week mate..." more laughter ensued as Xander added this in.

"Hey, you gonna tell them?" Electra glanced to her brother as he stopped her. The others kept walking, not noticing that the siblings had stopped. "About you being a Ranger before," Vincent muttered, and she frowned.

"Teams aren't supposed to have secrets from each other. I know from experience that secrets can threaten the stability of the team," Electra thought back to Trent, and how he had hidden his father's identity from them. "I just have to find the right time," she told her brother, and they ran to catch up with the others, only to pass Vida and Chip.

"We'll catch up with you guys later!" Vida called, and she and the yellow ranger ran off.

"Hmm, what's that all about?" Vincent quirked an eyebrow, watching as they disappeared into the forest.

1-2-3-4-5

Sitting around the table reading the massive books, Xander was growing increasingly frustrated. Vincent was fast asleep next to him.

"Man...look at all these incantations!" he grumbled. "How is my brain supposed to fit in all this information?!" he demanded.

"Why don't you let me help you out with that," Madison set down a stack of books onto the table beside Nick. She then pulled out her morpher, and spoke a few words. Blue light shot from her wand and hit Xander, making his head grow to huge proportions. Electra and Nick started laughing, which woke up Vincent. He lifted his head, and blinked several times as he looked at Xander.

"Am I still dreaming?" he let out a wide yawn.

"There, now you have lots more room!" Madison grinned widely, starting to laugh.

"And I thought he had a big head before!" Nick laughed. Electra sank to the floor as she laughed, gripping the edge of the table.

"Very funny..." Xander smiled pleasantly. "Madison, if you wouldn't mind?" he whispered, and Madison cast a counter spell to return his head to normal.

"Here, I can help you if you want," Electra got up and stood beside Xander, setting another book down. While Madison and Nick continued reading, Vincent fell asleep again and Electra explained some things to Xander.

"How do you know all this?" Xander looked up at the black ranger with a frown.

"I read it already," she rolled her eyes.

"And how did you make it that easy to understand?" he asked as even Madison and Nick watched, having been listening as they found it easier to understand than the books.

"I taught at Reefside High for a year, and one of the guys in my class-"

"Hold on, you _taught _in high school?" Nick interrupted her, and Electra nodded. "How old are you?" he demanded.

"I'm 20," Electra replied, unable to hide her grin. "It's a long story, I'll explain later," she told them, and went to continue explaining as even Udonna watched, impressed by how easily she helped the others to understand.

"Reefside? Where you there when the Dino Thunder Power Rangers were about?" Madison asked curiously, and Electra twitched.

"Uh...yeah..." she swallowed.

"Bet you never expected to become a Ranger when you saw them," Xander grinned, and Electra rolled her eyes.

"Let's just get back to this," she told him, and his grin fell instantly.

1-2-3-4-5

"Hey, Chip and Vida never showed...where do you think they went?" Xander asked as the five walked through Briarwood.

"It probably has something to do with getting new spell codes. You saw how they were when they were talking about getting new stuff," Vincent shrugged, his hands stuffed into his jeans.

"Spell codes are unlocked by heroic and brave acts. They need to learn what that means by themselves," Electra shrugged lightly.

"All I know is that when my sister gets that crazy look in her eye, it usually means trouble," Madison commented, making the others laugh lightly.

"I'll show you real trouble!" a giant bat-woman landed nearby, and they stopped, tensing.

"Who are you?" Nick demanded.

"I am Necrolai!" she announced. "Dark mistress of the underworld!" she introduced herself.

"I'll handle this one," Xander pushed Nick back, and Vincent sighed.

"If he tries Plan Xander again, you owe me money," Electra muttered to Vincent. "And more if it fails," she added.

"Hi, Xander Bly, whatever the problem is here, I'm sure we can talk it out," Xander winked.

"You wish!" Necrolai fired several pink energy blasts at the green ranger, who narrowly avoided them before falling back. Madison and Nick caught him quickly.

"Not a big talker I see," Xander commented.

"Let's ranger up!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE!"

"MYSTIC POWER!"

The five ran at Necrolai and attacked, but she dodged each move easily and caught them with her own, knocking them back. She avoided Xander's attack, and flipped back.

"Playtimes over!" she called.

"Oh yeah?"

"We'll see!" Necrolai's wings shot out and she flew towards them, blasting them with more pink energy as she flew past them and into the air. "Look out!" Nick called, but it was too late. She hit them again, and knocked them to the ground.

"Let's go for a ride!" Necrolai flew towards them again and managed to grab them, with Electra just about managing to avoid it by teleporting out of the way. She watched helplessly as the other four were carried off, and disappeared.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra ran back to Rootcore, breathing heavily as she made it inside. She found Udonna, Chip and Vida standing around the giant crystal ball in the middle of the room.

"You must stop it!" Udonna was saying.

"Us? Look at that thing, it's massive! We'll get pummelled!" Vida exclaimed fearfully.

"You might, there's only two of you, and you've hardly mastered your ranger powers-"

"Three," Electra called as he walked over. "I just about managed to escape, but the others are in trouble. My brother, Xander, Nick, and your sister were caught," Electra looked to Vida, who looked even more scared.

"Are you afraid?" Udonna asked the pink ranger.

"No...I'm not afraid...but..."

"I'm totally scared," Chip admitted quickly.

"Me too. I'm terrified," Electra nodded. "That thing is giant and took out the others with no problem," she pointed out.

"Ok...I guess I'm a little freaked," Vida admitted.

"You should be...that creature's size and strength are unlike anything you've encountered," Udonna told them gravely.

"But Maddie...and Nick...and Vincent."

"And even Xander," Chip added in. "They need us," he realised.

"We gotta try and help them," Vida decided. "Come on," she looked to Chip with determination, and ran off.

"Real heroes, are born in the face of danger," Udonna told them, and Electra smiled to the white witch, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Ready?" Electra called, flicking out her morpher.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"MYSTIC POWER!"

"Come on!" the three grabbed their brooms, and transformed their brooms into their Mystic Racers. They flew off towards the giant monster.

"Guys, it's Chip!" the yellow ranger contacted the others. "Where are you?" he called.

"_Inside the belly of the beast_!" Nick yelled back. "_Stay back, I think he's got room for seconds_!"

"I don't care! I'm going in!" Vida shouted, and flew towards the monster, easily avoiding him. She leapt off her Racer and conjured wings, using her magic to force the monster to sneeze the others out. Chip and Electra dodged the monster's attacks, and Chip leapt onto his feet, balancing on the front of his racer as Electra flew down to join the others.

"Sneeze on this!" he called as he called on his Magi Staff, transforming it into a crossbow. "Fire!" he blasted it, hitting it dead on. He knocked it down, and leapt off his Racer to join the others as well. They cheered him on, and he grinned to Vida under his helmet.

"Just doing our jobs, right Vida?" he glanced to the pink ranger.

"All in a day's work!" she agreed. The ground suddenly shook, and the monster reappeared.

"Ready rangers?"

"Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the Sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Dark as the night! Black Mystic Ranger!"

"Disruptive as thunder! Gold Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

"We call forth the magic! Power Rangers Mystic Force!" they chanted, before lights flew from the sky and landed in their morphers, which they held in their hands.

"Whoa, what's going on?"

"It's a new spell code!" Vida realised as a few of the numbers lit up.

"I get it now, Udonna was right!" Chip remembered what she had said.

_Real heroes are born in the face of real danger._

"Took you guys long enough," Electra teased, grinning under her helmet.

"Alright guys! Let's do it!" Nick called, and they activated their new spell code. "It's Titan Time!"

"MYSTIC MINOTAUR!"

"MYSTIC SPRITE!"

"MYSTIC MERMAID!"

"MYSTIC GARUDA!"

"MYSTIC HELLHOUND!"

"MYSTIC KITSUNE!"

"MYSTIC PHOENIX!"

"ANCIENT POWER, MYSTIC TITANS!" the Rangers called, and dodged the monster's attacks. They fought him off easily, knocking him back.

"This power is incredible!" Nick cheered as Vincent, a golden fox-like creature, leapt at the monster and knocked him backwards, right into the large wolf-like creature that was Electra's Titan form. She lashed out, slashing down his back several times.

"Let's go!" Xander called.

"Let's play ball!" Vida transformed into a ball, and Xander caught her, before throwing her up and slamming the axe he wielded her.

"Chip, coming your way!" Madison called as she slammed Vida with her tail. Chip caught her, and tossed her towards Electra, who flipped, kicking it towards Vincent.

"Nick, go long!" the gold ranger called.

"Here we go, watch this!" Nick slammed Vida into the monster, destroying it before she turned back.

1-2-3-4-5

"I'm proud of you all, and you've only just begun to tap into the power of the Mystic Titans," Udonna praised the rangers happily.

"Yeah, but now green freak is gone, right? So it's all good in the woods?" Madison asked hopefully.

"Well, let's hope so, we don't know if it's the same creature that attacked Claire," Xander frowned, and the others nodded, having heard about Claire being attacked in the woods earlier that day.

"Nick's investigating that," Udonna told them. However, only a few moments later, Nick contacted them.

"_Guys, I think I found what we were looking for_!" he called, and they looked through the globe to see Nick running from something travelling underground.

"What is he running from?" Xander stared at it in horror.

"I dunno, but he needs help," Vida told them.

"Man...I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this again today..." Electra complained as they walked back.

"Ready?" Xander called as they ignored her complaint.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they ran out of Rootcore and towards where Nick was fighting a giant worm creature. Before it could attack the already morphed Nick, Xander leapt forwards and attacked it his his axe.

"Thanks man, I owe you one," Nick thanked the green ranger as he helped him up. The others ran over to join them, but their celebrations were cut short as several more heads of the worm burst out of the ground. "Uh oh, he looks mad!" Nick gulped.

"How does he look mad? He doesn't have a face!" Vincent exclaimed.

"Hey, I got a new spell code!" Xander realised, and Madison, Vida, Chip, Vincent and Electra pulled out their morphers to find that they did too.

"Udonna said the Titan's had more power," Vida reminded them.

"Let's just see what they can do," Nick suggested, and they activated the spell code.

"MYSTIC TITANS!"

"MYSTIC TITANS, DRAGON FORMATION!" all of the Rangers but Nick started glowing, before changing and combining to create a large Dragon.

"How cool is that! Hang on everybody, I'm ready to ride!" Nick leapt up onto the dragon and swayed at first before gaining a good grip. "Let's bury that worm!" he cheered with excitement as the dragon flew towards the hydra worm, ready for battle. They avoided attacks by the monster. "Still hungry?" Nick called, and the worm attacked again, but the Rangers in their dragon formation were faster, easily avoiding the attacks. "Dragon blast!" the attack hit dead on. "Alright Rangers, let's get fired up!" Nick called as he leapt off the Dragon. The Dragon shot a fireball, and Nick kicked it straight into the hydra worm. "Alright! That was a snap!"

1-2-3-4-5

"I am tired..." Vincent groaned as he sat in Rootcore. Nick had just returned with the supplies that Udonna had requested from him. "And I think my bruises have bruises," he complained.

"Quit your whining," Electra scolded. Vincent stuck out his tongue, making Vida chuckle lightly from her seat near to Vincent. All of the others had noticed when she had grabbed the seat next to the gold ranger, but none of them wanted to incur her wrath and had stayed quiet.

"Hey, I have a question," Xander spoke up from Vincent's other side. "Electra, just how did you escape Necrolai when she grabbed us?" he asked, and the black ranger froze. All eyes were now on her.

"It looked like you disappeared when she went to grab you," Nick remembered.

"And you got back to Rootcore really fast afterwards!" Vida realised once she thought about it.

"I'm a fast runner?" Electra tried, but when none of them looked very convinced, she let out a sigh. She disappeared again, making them all jump. "I have something to tell you guys," she announced, and the rangers looked around to see her sitting on the railings nearby.

"That is no magic..." Udonna commented as she walked over. Electra shook her head.

"Nope. It's my Dino Power. Part of it anyways," she admitted.

"Dino...wait..." Vincent's eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"I never told you that part Vince, cause it was in the past when you found out. I've been a Power Ranger before," she told them, and they all stared at her with wide eyes. Stunned silence hung heavily over Rootcore.

"You've...been a Ranger before?" Madison was the first to be able to speak.

"Yep. I was the Black Monochrome Ranger for the Ninja Storm Power Rangers, and the Crimson Dino Ranger for the Dino Thunder Rangers," Electra explained as she leapt off the railings and landed lightly.

"That explains so much," Nick commented, and Electra raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you didn't want to be a Ranger, but you became one anyway," Chip added, remembering Electra's reaction when Udonna had first told them that they were to be Rangers.

"Once a Ranger, always a Ranger," Electra shrugged, before pausing. "Damn. Doctor O really did make that stick," she commented, more to herself than the others.

"And you always seem way more used to this stuff than we do," Xander pointed out.

"I've had three years of experience," Electra grinned back.

"Why'd you never tell me that you were a Dino Ranger?" Vincent asked.

"And how'd you find out?" Vida looked to the gold ranger.

"I never told you because you only found out last year, and I was done with the whole Dino Thunder thing. Vincent found out because he was dragged into a battle that forced me and my team to reveal ourselves to him," Electra turned her head to Vida when she explained the second bit.

"Still can't believe Amara knew before me," Vincent grumbled.

"Amara doesn't know about me being a Dino Ranger. Or this," Electra commented, and Vincent cheered up a little. "I was just waiting for the right time to tell you guys, which I knew was going to come sooner, rather than later. I'm a little addicted to my powers," she laughed lightly.

"That is so cool!" Chip exclaimed. "I thought being a Power Ranger was awesome enough, but fighting alongside a veteran is even cooler!" he told her, and Electra went a little red.

"Well, if we're done here," she cleared her throat. "I think it's time to get home," she decided, and the others nodded. They all got to their feet, and glanced over at Vincent as he whispered something to Vida. A blush lit up her face, before she nodded. A smile spread across Vincent's freckled features, and he led her out, winking to Electra as she rolled her eyes.

"I knew he was going to do it. Xander?" she looked to the green ranger, who frowned and paid her, before heading out with Nick. Electra chuckled as she pocketed the results of betting on her womanising brother, before noticing that the smile had disappeared from Chip's face. Her own smile disappeared, and she glanced to Madison, who was watching Chip with a look of worry. The blue ranger looked to Electra, and offered the smallest of smiles before walking out with Chip.

"Oh...crap," Electra groaned, slapping a hand to her face. That wasn't good. Not in the slightest.

**Yaaaaay...oh...**

**I dunno...I'm really not well at the minute. Managed to get really sick on Monday after an amazing weekend at QCon, so had to endure my graduation while dying. It was awesome all the same, except for the fact that James Nesbitt (the chancellor for my uni) was off filming the Hobbit so didn't give me my degree. So mad.**

**ANYWAY, I plan on being in Dublin tomorrow for ArcadeCon this weekend, so I figured I'd update. And then go back to being comatose while Sorcerer's Apprentice played on TV.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyways!**


	4. Rock Solid

Chapter 4: Rock Solid

It was another lively day in Rock Porium, which was filled with music courtesy of Vida playing DJ. Toby was behind the counter, snapping at anyone who was unfortunate enough to go within a few feet of the fasting owner.

"Man, that was awesome," Electra chuckled as she walked in, carrying a helmet in her hands.

"Have fun at the track while we were slaving away here?" Vincent looked up from the CDs he was organising.

"So much fun. Can't believe I hadn't raced in so long," Electra replied, ignoring his jab as she took a seat beside Xander. "Let me guess, supervising again?" she asked the green ranger, who grinned back.

"Y'see, she gets it too," he winked to Madison's camera as the blue ranger walked around. Electra just rolled her eyes and shoved the helmet onto his head. "Hey!" Xander lifted the visor to glare at her. "Watch the hair," he warned.

"Oh yes, because your hair is a vital part in the Xander charm, right?" she smirked back at him, and shut the visor as Madison giggled from where she stood, filming the two. "Is that why Plan Xander is such a failure?" Electra teased as he opened it again.

"Hey, Plan Xander isn't a failure. You've just not seen it in real action," Xander defended, making Electra laugh even more.

"Whatever you say plant boy, whatever you say," she shut the visor again and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. Madison walked off to try and get some footage of Nick, and Xander covered Chip in discount stickers. "Who invited you to the party?" she called suddenly, and Xander and Chip frowned.

"I'm crashing," Hunter replied as he walked in, raising a hand in greeting to Vincent as he passed the gold ranger. Electra laughed, and stood up, reaching up to kiss him quickly. "Is that the helmet I gave you?" Hunter asked as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.

"It helps him supervise," Electra replied seriously as Xander finally pulled the helmet off.

"You mean it helps you bully me," he grumbled, and Electra turned her head to smirk at him.

"Same thing," she told him with a grin, and pulled away from Hunter. "Hunter, this is Xander. He's an idiot," she introduced the green ranger, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, there's always one she picks on," Hunter told him with a grin.

"Hey, if I have to keep moving away from ya, how can I pick on you?" Electra grinned as she took the helmet back from Xander. Hunter just rolled his eyes, and Electra grabbed the newspaper from Xander as well. "Another attack...seriously?" she looked up at Xander, who shrugged as he took the paper back.

"More monster attacks?" Hunter asked with a frown, and Electra nodded. She then muttered something to Xander, and his eyes widened.

"You serious? Did Udonna ok this?" he asked carefully.

"She did. After about half an hour of begging and pleading. She agreed, but guess who your new teacher is," Electra grinned, and Xander groaned. "Don't worry, I'll have you in shape in no time," she patted his arm and turned to Hunter, who looked thoroughly confused. "We gotta talk. Come on," she grabbed his hand pulled him out of the shop.

"Electra didn't say that she's our new teacher, did she?" Vincent walked over to Xander, whose grim face spoke volumes for him. "Oh no...we're screwed..." Vincent groaned, putting his hands to his face.

1-2-3-4-5

"So what's up?" Hunter asked as Electra finally stopped dragging him through Briarwood. She took a deep breath, and spun around to face him.

"So, you know how there's been a load of monster attacks here pretty much since I got here?" she asked slowly, and Hunter nodded, frowning. "There was an earthquake, and it broke the seal to the underworld, so the monsters there could escape, and now they're terrorising Briarwood," Electra explained.

"And you know this because...?" Hunter wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"Because there's a new group of Power Rangers..."

"You're not..."

"Surprise?" Electra offered a weak smile. "I'm the black Mystic Force Ranger," Hunter stared at her as Electra fidgeted. "Udonna agreed to let me tell you cause I won't be able to make many trips back to Blue Bay Harbour...especially now that I have to teach the others..." she muttered, still not sure if she was amused or annoyed at having to do so.

"You really can't say no to being a Ranger, can you?" Hunter laughed lightly, and Electra went red. "Just be careful, ok?" he wrapped his arms around her, and Electra nodded.

"I'll try," she told him, her voice a little muffled. Her morpher chimed, and she frowned, pulling away as she lifted it from her pocket and flipped it open. "What's up?" she answered as Xander's voice announced that he had answered too.

"_I'm sensing dark energy, just outside the perimeter of the forest_," Udonna warned.

"_It could be that thing that's turning people into statues. We gotta stop it,_" Chip spoke up.

"Be careful guys, I'll meet you there," Electra spoke, and flipped it closed again. "Sorry, I gotta go," she looked up apologetically at Hunter.

"Duty calls and all that," he messed up her hair and she swatted him off.

"You be careful too," she told, and disappeared through a portal to the edge of the forest.

1-2-3-4-5

Morphed and looking around, Electra froze as she spotted a large collection of people who had been turned to stone. Moments later, the others joined her.

"Oh no..." Vida whispered.

"We're too late...he's already been here," Nick shook his head.

"That's just stone cold..." Vida growled as she looked at the terrified faces on the statues.

"How do you like my rock garden?" the six spun around to see Necrolai landing nearby. "Soon everyone will be like they are," she called to them with a laugh.

"Like hell we'll let that happen!" Vincent yelled. They heard a roar nearby, and found the monster responsible running towards them.

"Magi Staff Striker!" Nick changed his Magi Staff into it's sword mode and attacked, but his attacks did nothing. Within moments, he was being thrown through the air, landing heavily.

"Come on!" the others went to join him, only to be blasted back to the ground.

"Now there's no-one in our way!" Necrolai laughed, and she and the monster disappeared through a portal.

1-2-3-4-5

"Come on, we gotta find them!" Vincent called as they flew through the air, looking around for any sign of Necrolai and her monster.

"There!" Vida spotted fleeing civilians below, and they leapt off their Mystic Racers, only to find Madison, turned to stone. "Sis!" Vida ran towards her sister as a young man stared at the statue. "Run!" he ran off as Vida barked at him. "Maddie..."

"Hard luck," Necrolai taunted as Vida stared at her petrified sister.

"You're going to pay for that!" Vida turned to face the pair angrily. "Magi Staff, Wind Power!" she yelled, creating a gust of wind that knocked both Necrolai and her monster to the ground. "Want some more?" Vida challenged, in a fury over her sister.

"Foolish girl...don't you see that you can never stop us? Especially now you're down a Ranger," Necrolai mocked, and laughed as she and the monster disappeared again.

"Dammit!" Vincent growled.

"We gotta get her back to Rootcore!" Vida turned back to her sister.

"I can do it," Electra nodded, and took hold gently of Madison's arm. She disappeared in a flash of black and crimson, leaving the others to return to Rootcore.

1-2-3-4-5

Udonna attempted spell after spell to depetrify Madison as Nick and Chip held her up, but none worked.

"This creature's magic is very strong," Udonna sighed as the two Rangers set her down. "Only by destroying him can the spell be broken," she told them.

"Oh, I'll destroy him alright," Vida growled. "With my bare hands," she stormed off to go and fight the monster again, but Vincent shot up to block her path.

"V, stop, please," he grabbed her shoulders and struggled to keep her in place as she shoved at him.

"Move it Vincent, before I take you out as well," Vida growled at him, but he kept his hold on her.

"Vida, if you go out there before we get a plan together on how to defeat this freak, you'll end up just like Maddie," Vincent warned. "Then you won't be able to take out this monster," he told her, and Vida glared at him.

"Vincent's right. That's what got her into this trouble in the first place," Nick spoke up, and Vida whirled around, turning her glare on him.

"Oh, I don't think I like where this is going," Electra muttered to Xander and Chip, who nodded silently.

"She shouldn't have been out there alone," Nick told the pink ranger, whose glare intensified.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vida growled at him.

"She probably got in over her head V," Nick spoke softly, seeming to be unaware that his words were only making Vida angrier.

"Man, you don't know my sister," Vida shook her head, walking towards the red ranger. Vincent followed at a careful distance, ready to grab Vida if she lost it. "She may be shy on the outside, but inside she's got the heart of a warrior!" she growled.

"Right..." Nick didn't sound so sure. "That's why she's always hiding behind that camera," he spoke with disbelief, and Vincent facepalmed.

"You are so clueless," Vida snarled quietly, and walked over to the camera, which they had brought with them. "Here's why she's always behind that camera," she drew her wand and cast a spell, activating it so the footage showed up on screen.

"_Introducing DJ Vida. The best sister ever_," Madison's voice spoke over footage of Vida performing on the decks at Rock Porium. "_Can't forget Xander! Not only a great friend, but he's sick on his board_!" Madison exclaimed as it showed footage of Xander grinning up at the camera with his skateboard in hand.

"_No man has ever attempted this without losing his life_!" Chip was shown next, practising his archery.

"_Chip Thorn, known him since grammar school. There's nobody in this world quite like Chip_!" Madison's smiling voice spoke over the excitable yellow ranger cheering at his victory. "_And while I only met them recently, I already feel like I'm good friends with Vincent and Electra_," the two straightened up as it showed footage of Vincent playing his guitar, and winking up at the camera when he noticed. "_Vincent's charm and ego can rival Xander's, but he's great on the guitar and makes everyone around him feel relaxed_," beside Vincent playing, Xander was fast asleep with his mouth hanging open, making Vincent snort a little with laughter as Xander went red. "_Electra's fighting skills are intense, and she treats everyone with respect, well, almost everyone_," Madison smiled as she showed Electra picking on Xander, hitting the lazy worker with a magazine as he claimed to be supervising again. "_I can't wait to get some footage of her on a bike_!" it then showed some more footage of Xander, this time on his board, before changing to Nick. "_Then there's Nick_," the red ranger stared at the footage of him on his bike. "_The new guy in town. We don't know too much about him yet, but I can feel it, he's something special_," the rangers all smiled as they watched the screen. "_So those are my friends, old and new. I know I can count on them for anything_."

"Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves Nick," Udonna's words made them look around. "Maybe Madison does it through her films?" she suggested as Nick turned his back to the screen.

"You're right...I was clueless..." Nick walked back down the stairs towards Madison's statue. "I shouldn't have gone shooting my mouth off," he muttered. "I'm gonna get you outta this Maddie, I promise," Nick looked to Madison, before a bell chimed and the Xenotome flew open.

"You now have a clue," Udonna told him as she rushed over to it.

"A new spell code!" Nick flicked open his morpher to see. Just as he did so, the globe in the middle of the table lit up. "He's back. You guys ready to do this?" Nick called.

"Yeah! Let's rock!" Vida cheered, before pausing. "Sorry sis..." she glanced to her sister, before they lined up.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" after morphing, they grabbed their brooms, changing them into their Mystic Racers, and flew off to battle.

"Come on Rangers!" Nick called as they flew over Briarwood.

"Where do you think you're going Rangers?" a voice reached them. Attacks flew past them, nearly knocking them off their Racers.

"It's an ambush!" Chip yelled.

"Well duh!" Electra yelled back as she swerved through the air, barely able to keep her balance.

"You go ahead and stop that monster! I'll hold off Koragg and his goons!" Nick shouted to the others, and they nodded, flying off as Nick flew down to face Koragg.

"There he is!" before long, the rest of the Rangers had spotted the monster. He was turning more and more people into statues, laughing away.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" he declared, before Xander caught him from behind.

"Back off!" the green Ranger called as he landed and the monster staggered forwards. Electra, Vida, Vincent and Chip landed as well, and Chip called on his weapon.

"Magi Staff, Crossbow!" he transformed it into a crossbow, and fired it, but Necrolai leapt down and knocked the attack away. In retaliation, she fired her own attack that hit them all. The five rangers crashed to the ground, their chests aching from the powerful hit, before they pushed themselves back up. They ran at Necrolai and attacked, but she was much more powerful. She knocked them back again, and laughed.

"Silly Rangers!" she mocked, and started spinning, hitting the five again and knocking them to the ground. "They're all yours," Necrolai told her monster, who started walking towards the fallen Rangers.

"I'm gonna rock this town!"

"Oh I have had it with the rock puns," Electra grumbled, before an engine roared.

"Not on my watch!" Nick appeared on a red bike, leaping through the air as he fired his attacks. They collided with the monster, and the fallen Rangers cheered as Nick skidded to a stop in front of them.

"Enough's enough!" Nick slid off his bike, facing the monster.

"Hey, I want a bike like that!" Chip exclaimed in excitement.

"Can't you just be happy with your Racer?" Vincent laughed, and Chip shook his head with a grin.

"You've done enough damage for one day!" Nick called, and summoned his Magi Staff.

"This is too easy!" the monster started charging up his petrification attack, but as he fired it, Nick conjured a mirror that reflected the attack and turned the monster to stone instead, much to Necrolai's horror.

"How do you like that?" Nick smirked as the mirror disappeared. "Now to end this! Power of the Phoenix!" Nick called on his power and fire shaped like a bird appeared around him, allowing to fly at the monster and destroy it. Instantly, the spell was broken, and everyone was released from the spell that turned them into stone.

"Koragg! Help this worthless heap!" before they had a chance to celebrate, Necrolai kicked part of the monster and yelled out to Koragg. The Knight cast a spell, and the monster reassembled, growing to enormous heights.

"Oh, I almost missed the growing bit part," Electra muttered, glaring up at the monster. Suddenly, Madison appeared, running over to them.

"Maddie!" Vida exclaimed with relief. "You're ok!"

"Looks like I got here just in time," Madison smiled to her sister, who smiled back.

"Hey, Madison...I was a jerk. I'm sorry I said you were too shy," Nick walked over and apologised to the blue ranger.

"Apology accepted, let's just forget about it," Madison shook her head, offering a small smile to him. When her morpher suddenly chimed, she lifted it out and flipped it open. "I guess we both learned something today," she smiled back at him. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" Madison morphed, and they all transformed into their Titan forms.

"You can't handle this!" the monster roared.

"Let's try my new spell code!" Madison suggested.

"Go for it sis!" Vida called from Xander's shoulder.

"Let's see what we can do!" Vincent cheered, and they chanted the new spell, which allowed them to combine into one. They reappeared inside, looking around.

"Whoa, this place is freaky," Xander looked around as they were moved around.

"Definitely the weirdest Megazord cockpit I've seen," Electra commented as she looked about curiously.

"I get it!" Madison spoke up with excitement. "The cockpit is like a chessboard! We control our fight with strategical moves," she explained to the others.

"Yep, the weirdest Megazord ever," Electra confirmed with a nod.

"Ok guys! Let's get serious!" Nick called. "TITAN MEGAZORD!" they activated it, ready for battle.

"That doesn't scare me!" the monster yelled, and fired attacks that hit dead on. "Got him!" he cheered, but when the smoke cleared, he realised that the Megazord was unharmed, using its wings to defend.

"You should be scared!" Vincent smirked. "Cause that was nothing!"

"What?!" the monster ran at the Megazord, and the seven moved forwards in their chess pieces.

"TITAN SABRE!" they called on their weapon, and slashed down the monster's front. "Altogether!" Nick shouted, and they summoned more power. "ANCIENT POWER, MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" they activated their powerful attack. "Checkmate!" the monster yelled as he fell, destroyed.

1-2-3-4-5

Madison walked around the shop with her camera, focusing on her sister as she danced along to the music she was playing. Vincent stood nearby, laughing at Vida as she told her sister to get her good side.

"So where's your sister?" Xander asked as he walked past, shaking his head at Vida.

"Off racing with Hunter. I hope he makes her eat dirt. It's always refreshing to see her get her ass handed to her," Vincent smirked, still watching Vida.

"Make sure she doesn't hear you. After all, she's our new teacher," Xander clapped him on the shoulder, and Vincent let out a loud groan.

"You just _had _to remind me," Vincent groaned, before looking around as a young man stepped in front of Madison's camera, greeting her. They walked away from the decks, and Vincent jumped up beside Vida.

"Now who is that?" he asked the pink ranger, who was watching curiously.

"I have no idea," Vida murmured.

"Well whoever he is, he's asking her out," Vida's head whipped around to stare at Vincent. "I know that look. Hell, I've worn that look. He's mad about your sister," Vincent grinned, folding his arms.

"Looks like Madison's really trying to come out of her shell," Nick commented as he walked over.

"Yeah," Vida nodded. "But if he messes with my sister, he's gonna have to mess with me," Vida smirked.

"Don't worry, she can take care of herself," Nick grinned, taking a seat and opening a magazine.

"I can see why Toby's always mad at you lot. Do you guys ever do work?" Electra asked as she walked into Rock Porium with Hunter.

"Hey, you never did any work when you worked in Storm Chargers," Hunter commented, and she slapped his arm as he laughed. He just wrapped his arm around her, and smirked down as she glared up at him.

"I worked plenty. Blame Letha, she kept trying to kill me," she grumbled, folding her arms.

"Sure you did. You're just as lazy as the rest of us," Vincent smirked at her.

"Hey, I'm your new teacher. Best be nice to me, or you'll regret it," Electra warned, and Vincent's smirk dropped instantly as Vida laughed lightly.

"How'd the racing go?" Vida asked as they walked over.

"How'd you think it went?" Electra muttered.

"You really didn't expect to beat me, right?" Hunter looked down at her with a smirk.

"Of course not," Electra shoved him, but he kept a strong hold on her. "Jerk..." she muttered, making him laugh.

"She's going to be our teacher?" Vincent looked to Vida with a droll stare.

"I think it could be pretty fun," Vida shrugged, and Electra smirked victoriously at her little brother. He stuck out his tongue, and Electra did the same.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the defenders of Earth..." Nick muttered, making Vida laugh.

"So you guys are-" Hunter went to speak, before Madison's voice cut in.

"And these are my friends. Guys, this is Ben," Madison introduced the young man with her, and they all looked over at him. Electra stiffened, as did Ben.

"Electra?" he frowned, and they all looked from him to Electra, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"You know each other?" Madison asked curiously, her smile wavering a little.

"We uh, used to date," Electra's voice was awkward, and she was looking away as everyone was taken by surprise at the revelation.

**Yay I'm back! Two weekends of conventions and next weekend will be a card game party! I'm so social for once...**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Once I finish it I'll be uploading a oneshot connected to the end of this chapter. I refuse to play any of the games I get on the Steam Sale till I do!**

**Let me know what you think!**


	5. Fox Hunt

Chapter 5: Fox Hunt

Vincent crashed to the ground for what felt like the hundredth time as he faced his blindfolded sister. As he tried to push himself up, Vida shot past, aiming a kick for Electra's head with a yell. The black ranger dodged easily, and ducked down, sweeping her feet out from under her.

"You've got to be cheating!" Xander exclaimed from nearby, breathing heavily as Electra stood with her hands behind her back. She just smiled innocently back at the Green Ranger, who felt bruises forming already. Nearby, Udonna watched with Claire and Hunter, whom Udonna had allowed to visit Rootcore.

"She used that technique against us too," Hunter shook his head, flinching as Electra took down Nick next. Madison hesitated, trying to figure out how to take on Electra, who jumped back as Vincent leapt back to his feet, his eyes narrowed in determination.

"She is using her other senses. Impressive," Udonna nodded as Electra dodged each of her brother's attacks. Chip ran at her from behind, only to crash into Vincent as Electra slipped out of the way. "What do you mean by 'us'?" the sorceress turned to the thunder ninja, who frowned. Before he could think of what to say, Vincent had leapt back up, a golden aura surrounding him.

"Call to the beast inside! Unlock the Fox!" with a snarl, his fox spirit lunged at Electra.

"Call to the beast inside! Unleash the Jackal!" Electra summoned her own animal spirit to defend herself quickly, and she leapt at the fox spirit. As the fox attempted to attack, Electra's Jackal dodged and attacked, defeating the golden cloaked fox. "I told you before Vincent, no animal spirits!" Electra pulled her blindfold off, scowling at her brother.

"Why not? You're using the Swoop Technique!" Vincent protested.

"What the heck was that?" Nick demanded.

"You've done that before, when we first became Rangers," Xander remembered, and Electra put a hand to her face.

"Ok. Fine," she growled. "There's an Order. It's supposed to be secret, but since Vincent enjoys using his animal spirit so much, I guess we have to explain," Electra shot her scowling brother a glare. "The Order of the Claw is a secret order that teaches people kung-fu, and how to harness their animal spirits," Electra explained to the confused Rangers. "Both Vincent and I are part of that order, that's where we learned to fight," she told them.

"How else am I supposed to beat you? You're a Master, I'm still a cub," Vincent complained.

"You still don't get it," Electra sighed, shaking her head.

"You're supposed to work together," the Rangers looked around at Hunter, who had his arms folded. "That's the only way to do it," he told them, and Vincent's fists clenched. "It took us working together to take her down."

"That's all fine and dandy for you, but we're not all ninja masters here," Vincent growled, and Hunter's frown grew as the others looked around sharply at him.

"Ninja?" Madison frowned.

"You're a Ninja?" Chip sounded nothing less than excited as he stared at the thunder ninja. Vincent felt his feet disappear from under him, and he crashed to the ground again with a loud thud.

"You don't need to be a Ninja to work with others Vincent. If I can learn that, you sure as hell can," Electra stood over her brother, who glared up at her. "We are a team Vince, and if we don't fight as one, the enemy will destroy us in a heartbeat," she warned, looking up at the others to indicate that it wasn't just Vincent that needed to learn this. After the fiasco of the team turning on Nick when they believed that he had stolen money from Rock Porium, Electra had realised that they needed to learn to work as a team.

Vincent's fists clenched as he looked up at his sister, and he looked to their friends, who were watching him warily. His face burned with embarrassment at being taken down so easily in front of them, not to mention his girlfriend. He pushed himself back to his feet, and stormed off. Electra sighed, watching him storm off into the forest, and Vida chased after him. "Well...that worked," Electra grumbled sarcastically, putting a hand to her face.

"Some of us get it," Madison smiled at the black ranger, and the others nodded.

"Your brother has the same stubborn streak that your entire family have," Hunter commented, smirking when Electra shot a glare at him.

"Jackass," she muttered, and looked to the others. "Well, I guess that's our lesson over for today. We'll pick up tomorrow, if Vincent has stopped sulking," Electra told them, and they nodded.

"I better go, I said I'd meet Ben 10 minutes ago," Madison realised as she checked her watch, and hurried off. Electra sighed, barely paying attention to the only just noticeable frown that was showing on Nick's face as she turned back to Hunter, walking over to him.

"You know, you never said what happened with you two," Hunter spoke up as Electra stopped in front of him.

"What, jealous?" Electra smirked, but it dropped when his frown grew. "Look, I was 15, it lasted like 2 months before I ended things. I wanted to focus on my training, not to mention I didn't feel the same," she took his hands and looked up. "Do we really have to go through this?" she asked with a soft smile.

"Interesting..." the two looked up at Udonna, who was staring at them. "I thought it was just a trick of the light...but..." she trailed off, and Electra tilted her head.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Everyone else looked confused.

"The connection between you two," Udonna stated simply, and the two paused, and exchanged glances.

"Connection?" Nick frowned, not understanding Udonna's words, or the look the two had shared.

"Yes," Udonna nodded quickly. "There is a thread of light that connects you. It is something strange; no magic I have even encountered before," she told them, and saw that they exchanged another look. "You know something of it?"

"Nope," Hunter shook his head, and Electra elbowed him.

"It's been there for as long as we've known each other," she told the sorceress as Hunter rubbed his chest. "Pretty much I can sense him when he comes within a certain distance."

"That must get pretty annoying," Xander grinned, and Electra shot him a glare.

"You have no idea," Hunter smirked, and it only widened when Electra turned her glare on him.

"I don't really understand it much, but Hunter did once pick up on it," Electra explained to their mentor. Hunter's grip on her hand tightened as he remembered the day well. The day Lothor attacked Ninja Ops and destroyed it, kidnapping Cam and nearly killing both Electra and Sensei.

"We better go," Nick commented as he checked his watch. "Before Toby throws a fit over us being late. Again," he added, and both Xander and Chip pulled faces that made Claire giggle.

"Have fun at work," Electra waved to the three as they started walking back into town. Xander shot her a scowl over his shoulder, and she winked back. "When do you have to head back to the Thunder Academy?" Electra looked up at Hunter, who checked his watch.

"Not for a while. You up for another lesson or five?" he asked, and she nodded with a grin. They headed off to the track, leaving Udonna to continue her lessons with Claire.

1-2-3-4-5

"Vincent...wait up! Vincent!" Vida called as she chased after Vincent, who didn't slow down. "Dammit, come on," Vida finally caught up with him, grabbing his hand and pulling him back so he stopped.

"You don't get it, V! My sister – both my sisters – are amazing at what they do," Vincent whirled around, his expression pained. "Electra was the youngest ever in the Order to become a Master, and Amara is super smart, doing stuff for Master Mao that she's not even allowed to talk about!" the gold Ranger told Vida, who watched him patiently. "And here I am, not knowing how the heck to get my stripes. I finally become part of something important, and Electra's right there, proving that once again she's better at everything than me," Vincent pulled his hand free and folded his arms.

"Talk about an inferiority complex," Vida commented, and put a hand on his arm. "Electra's older, and has three years of experience of fighting evil," she pointed out. Vincent just avoided her gaze. "You're not your sisters. You're still a great fighter, just because you're not at their level doesn't mean anything," she smiled at him, and Vincent remained silent, still staring at the ground.

"I just...I'm sick of being second best," he finally looked up at Vida, who clenched her fists.

"You're not second best, you idiot!" she exploded, taking Vincent by surprise. "I just told you, you're not your sisters! There are things they're good at that you aren't, and there are things you're good at that they aren't! It's the same with me and Maddie!" she yelled at him, and Vincent stared at her, his brown eyes wide.

"Well well well, what have we got here?" they looked around to find Necrolai standing nearby with a new monster. The two fell into fighting stances, narrowing their eyes. "Is the little gold ranger feeling sorry for himself?" the bat-woman mocked, and the monster let out a laugh. Vincent's fists tightened. "Pathetic! If you want to be on top, destroy everyone in your path until you reach it!"

"Shut up!" Vincent shot at her, ignoring Vida's shout for him to wait. Vincent swung a punch, but the monster intercepted and Vincent was thrown aside after a punch that caught his stomach.

"Vincent!" Vida ran over to him, kneeling by his side.

"I'm fine..." Vincent got back up, one arm around his stomach. "Come on," he looked to Vida as she stood up, and they nodded, drawing their morphers.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they morphed and rushed at the monster and Necrolai. They fought the pair, but were quickly overwhelmed and forced back.

"You really are pathetic, gold ranger!" Necrolai mocked as she fired a couple of attacks that hit Vincent and threw him into a tree.

"I am _not _pathetic!" Vincent let out an angry yell. His golden aura blazed, and he got back to his feet. "Call to the beast inside! Unlock the Fox!" Necrolai leapt out of the way as his Fox spirit rushed at his enemies, swinging a paw at the monster. However, as it collided, the monster started to glow a pale blue colour. Vincent's eyes widened, and his Fox spirit let out a howl of pain, before being sucked into the Monster's body. Vincent let out a cry, falling to the ground as he demorphed.

"What did you do?!" Vida demanded as she ran over to Vincent again, shaking him.

"There has been some interest in these spirit animals that both the gold and black rangers can produce," Necrolai laughed as she stood beside the monster. "It's not magic, so I thought, why not find out!" she told the glaring pink ranger.

"Why not just ask?" Nick's yell made her look around, and the red ranger, already morphed, landed a kick to the monster that knocked him to the ground. Necrolai let out a low growl, before looking forwards as Electra appeared from a portal, running straight at her.

"Give my brother back his animal spirit, or I will destroy you right here," the black ranger snarled as she landed a kick to Necrolai's stomach.

"That is an interesting power as well, black Ranger. You are just full of surprises," Necrolai responded as the two fought it out, and the other Rangers fought the monster. Electra didn't respond, kicking her stomach, and holding out her hands. Darkness slammed into Necrolai's chest, who let out a screech.

"You damn well better believe I'm full of surprises," Electra growled as she let up, watching Necrolai as she breathed heavily. "Now give my brother, his animal spirit," she demanded, and Necrolai started laughing.

"Your emotions make you weak, ranger!" Electra was too furious to roll her eyes, having lost count of how often she'd been told such a thing. Instead, she attacked again, but this time, Necrolai grabbed the monster and disappeared through a seal. Electra swore loudly, and turned to her brother, who was just stirring.

"What...what happened?" Vincent pushed himself up a little, before letting out a grunt and falling back into the leaves.

"Be careful Vincent," Electra was by his side in an instant, helping him into a sitting position as his face scrunched up. "They took your animal spirit. I'm sorry, they got away. But they'll be back," she told him softly.

"My...dammit..." Vincent groaned as he put a hand to his chest.

1-2-3-4-5

"I'm fine, I can still fight!" Vincent was protesting as he fought against Xander, who easily overpowered the weak Ranger.

"Vincent, just let us handle it," Madison pleaded with him as she stood with her worried sister. Electra sighed from where she sat, shaking her head.

"You're just as stubborn as he is," Hunter leaned on the railings beside her.

"At least these guys are as stubborn as you guys are. They'll stop him doing anything stupid," Electra smiled softly at him, and Hunter nodded, watching as Nick told the gold Ranger off for continuing to fight them off. "Well, hopefully," she added as Nick got frustrated and stomped off. "He wouldn't get far, even if these guys weren't here. I remember what it's like to lose my animal spirit," Electra murmured, putting a hand to her chest as she remembered it well. One of Lothor's monsters had stolen their powers, and it had taken Cam travelling back in time to gain the power of the Green Samurai Ranger to get them back.

"I guess it's a trait all rangers need to have. We're all pretty stubborn," Hunter nodded.

"_Pretty _stubborn? You're as bad as me," Electra raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed lightly, nodding in agreement. When the globe in the centre of the table suddenly showed the monster, Electra leapt off the railings. "Vincent, stay here until we take out that thing," she warned her brother, and he glared at her.

"Ready guys?" Nick called as they lined up to morph for the second time that day.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" the Rangers grabbed their brooms, transforming them into their Mystic Racers, before flying off to the city.

"I can't believe they left me behind," Vincent complained, pushing himself up.

"Vincent, you would be unable to fight," Udonna told him from the table, watching as the monster terrorised civilians. "You must learn to rely on others, as they rely on you," Vincent looked over at her with a frown.

"But I..."

"She's right dude," they both glanced up at Hunter. "I know how you feel, for years the only one who had my back was Blake, it took a long time to realise that we weren't alone any more. You need to remember that you're part of a team now, you need to work with them or these goons will just keep kicking your ass," the ninja warned, and Vincent lowered his gaze to his hands. He knew that Hunter was right. His friends were there to help.

His morpher chimed, and he looked down. With a great deal of effort, he pulled it from the pouch at his side, and flipped it open, as the Xenotome came to life and the pages flipped.

"A new spell code...huh..." Vincent stared at the lights that flashed up at him. "Cool," he determined, wondering just what he had gained. He hoped the others would be ok, and that they would be able to get his animal spirit back soon.

1-2-3-4-5

The civilians of Briarwood fled from the monster that laughed as he attacked anything in his path. Necrolai watched nearby, spurring her monster on. A young boy tripped as he ran, and the monster noticed, turning his attention to him. He let out a roar, and fired an attack at him. The boy cried out, before Nick and Chip intercepted, blocking the attack.

"Run now!" Chip called the boy, who nodded and ran off. The Yellow and Red Rangers then ran at the monster, leaping into the air. As they planted their boots into the monster's face, Madison and Vida appeared and attacked from behind.

"Rangers!" Necrolai snarled, before looking around just in time to block an attack from Xander and Electra.

"You sound surprised. Don't tell me you've not grasped that every time you show up with one of these losers, we'll be here to wipe them out?" Electra tilted her head slightly, her Magi Staff in hand.

"You're one Ranger down! It's only a matter of time before the rest of you fall too," Necrolai replied, and let out a yell as she leapt at them.

"Not gonna happen!" Xander yelled as he blocked the hit with his own Magi Staff, which he had changed into an axe. He then attacked her, forcing her into the air.

"Guys, look out!" they heard Madison yell too late. The monster's attack slammed into the green and black rangers, shoving them to the ground.

"I have had enough of this guy!" Electra was on her feet before anyone could blink. She caught the monster across his front with her Magi Staff, wishing that she had her naginata. She leapt back as the monster retaliated, allowing Nick to charge in with his Sword. He hit the monster several times, making him roar in pain.

"Magi Staff, Crossbow!" Chip stood at a distance, aiming his weapon at the monster. "Fire!" the attack hit, knocking the monster to the ground.

"Let's finish this guy off!" Nick called, digging his heels in. "Power of the Phoenix!" fire surrounded the Red Ranger, and he ran at the monster, cutting straight through him.

"No!" Necrolai growled as the monster cried out, falling to the ground and exploding. A golden light shot from what was left, and flew through the air, disappearing back to Rootcore. "Koragg!" Necrolai snarled.

"Wait for it," Electra caught Chip's arm as he bounced about with excitement. Within moments, a purple symbol appeared on the ground and the monster reformed, growing to a much larger size.

"Of course..." Nick groaned, looking up at the laughing monster.

"We need Vincent to form the Megazord!" Vida looked to the Red Ranger, and back up at the monster.

"Need? Well isn't that music to my ears!" they looked around to see Vincent grinning, looking much better already.

"And the ego is back," Electra chuckled as Vida raced over to the gold ranger to ensure that he was alright.

"We can talk later. Right now we have an oversized mutant to deal with," Vincent looked up at the Monster, before drawing his Morpher. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" he morphed into his gold suit. They summoned their Titan power, and formed the Titan Megazord. "TITAN MEGAZORD!" they activated it, ready for battle.

"You're going down Rangers!" the monster roared, running at them with incredible speed. The Rangers braced themselves, and the monster slammed into the Megazord, forcing it back several feet.

"Wrong!" Electra smirked. "TITAN SABRE!" they called on their weapon, and with a powerful downwards thrust, they cut down the monster's front, making him cry out.

"You're the one who's going down!" Nick yelled. "Come on guys!" he called, looking to the other Rangers, who nodded.

"Right!"

"ANCIENT POWER, MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" they called on their final attack. It shot at the monster, slamming into him and making him screech before falling. He exploded, and the Rangers cheered, thankful for another victory.

1-2-3-4-5

"Dammit Xander, give that back!" customers in Rock Porium looked around as Electra chased him through the shop. The green Ranger grinned over his shoulder, waving the book he had stolen from her.

"Oh, he is so going to regret that," Madison commented as she watched the two running around the shop, thankful that Toby had gone out.

"Does he not remember the butt kicking she gave us this morning?" Chip frowned as he watched the two. "My bruises have bruises," he complained as he rubbed his back. "She's going to be so much meaner tomorrow..." he mumbled. There was a crash, and a shriek, and they all winced.

"What just happened?" Vincent asked as he walked in, looking a little confused. He looked over to see Xander lying face down on the ground, with Electra sitting cross legged on his back, reading her book.

"Hey bro," Electra looked up, and as Xander let out a groan, Electra smacked him on the head with her book.

"Xander, you've gotta learn that you don't mess with my sister," Vincent chuckled, shaking his head.

"Now you tell me..." Xander groaned, and received another smack to the head.

"Thanks for the help, by the way," Electra looked up at Hunter, who was sitting reading a magazine.

"You had it covered," Hunter glanced up to grin at her, and when she rolled her eyes with a smile, he returned to his magazine.

"Hey V?" Vincent glanced to the pink Ranger, who was standing behind the decks again. "Can I talk to you outside?" he asked, and she nodded, setting down the headphones. She jumped down and followed him out.

"Hey, any chance I can get up?" Xander asked, his voice muffled by the floor.

"You can supervise from there, can't you?" Electra smirked, but got back up and fell down onto the sofa beside Hunter as Xander reluctantly began clearing up the mess they had made.

"What's up?" Vida asked as she and Vincent stood outside.

"I just wanted to apologise for earlier," he ran a hand through his messy brown hair, which fell into his eyes as a result. "I was a jerk, and I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on you," Vincent sighed as he pushed his hair out of his face.

"As long as you learned your lesson, it's ok," Vida grinned, putting a hand on his arm.

"Oh definitely. You guys saved my ass out there," Vincent nodded back, putting his hand on hers. "How about I thank you with dinner?" he offered, and she nodded.

"Sounds good. After today, I could do with it," Vida grinned.

"You and me both," Vincent nodded, and took a step closer. Vida's smile dropped a little as she looked up at him with wide eyes. "I really appreciate you guys getting my animal spirit back," he muttered, and Vida nodded, swallowing as her heart pounded against her chest. For the first time in her life, she struggled to think of what to say. Before she could think of something, Vincent moved even closer and kissed her. Shyness disappearing, Vida kissed him back, feeling his own pounding heart as he pulled her closer.

"Oh come on!" they broke apart at Nick's yell. "Do you have to do that here?" he complained, keys for his bike in hand.

"I warned you not to go out there!" Electra's yell reached their ears as Nick covered his eyes. Vincent just grinned, not looking sorry in the slightest.

"Come on V, I'm starving," Vincent took her hand, and winked to Nick as he finally uncovered his eyes. Nick just rolled his eyes and headed off to his bike, hoping the ride home would remove the image burned into his mind.

**I FINALLY FINISHED CHAPTER 18! I've been stuck on that damn chapter for weeks. It took listening to the Doctor Who Proms to finally allow me to finish it.**

**Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! You'll eventually find out what the spell code was for Vincent...**

**Let me know what you think!**


	6. Fireheart

Chapter 6: Fireheart

It was a dull day in Briarwood as the Rangers, except for Electra, worked away. Unlike most of the time, the shop didn't have Vida's DJ-ing skills living up the atmosphere, as she, Madison, Chip, Vincent and Nick worked the stock. Xander sat on a wheelie chair, barking orders.

"Alrighty!" Xander called as he moved down past each Ranger, not leaving his chair. "Work the beat! Work the beat! Stocking doesn't have to be boring!" he told them with a wide smile, spinning around on his chair. As he faced forwards, however, he let out a terrified yell as he came face to face with a cardboard cut out of a man pulling a face. Toby appeared from behind it, looking confused as always. "It's you boss," Xander stood up quickly, smiling at him.

"Nice work Xander! I like the way you've gotten everyone...working!" Toby exclaimed happily, and Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Yet somehow not doing any work himself," he muttered.

"You, are a born leader!" Toby told Xander, while the others scoffed. Xander turned around, smiling proudly as Toby fixed the cardboard cut-out.

"Hear that guys? Born leader!" Xander repeated what Toby had said. The Rangers rolled their eyes, choosing not to say anything. "Who's the old guy boss?" the green ranger turned back to Toby.

"'_Who's the old guy_'?!" Toby stared at him in horror. "Guys! Jake Bonebreaker!" he gestured at the cut-out wildly. "The man who put metal, in metalhead? Lead guitar and vocal of metal mega classic, Hairy Hatchet!" all of them looked blank by this point.

"I think I remember my dad listening to them when I was like, 2," Vincent leaned back to mutter to Nick, who suppressed a smirk.

"Ok, your lesson. Play it, like it! Class dismissed," Toby told them, and walked back to his office as they grinned.

"Guys, who wants to take care of the king of metal?" Xander turned to his fellow Rangers.

"Not me!" Nick spoke up instantly.

"Me neither," Madison pulled a face. "He's older than my dad," she commented, making Vida laugh.

"I got things to do," Vida shook her head.

"Sorry, heavy metal makes my nose bleed," Chip offered an apologetic smile as he held a record in his hands.

"Hey Xander, I have a really wild idea," Vincent smirked, looking up. "Why don't _you _do it?" he suggested, making the others smirk.

"Fine! I'll do it myself!" Xander exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Like everything else around here..." he muttered, and Vincent grabbed his morpher, only for Chip to tackle him to the ground in an attempt to stop him. They didn't notice as Xander drew his own morpher, and cast a spell on the cut-out.

"_Hello _Cincinnaati!" they all looked up to find that the cut-out had come to life.

"Oops..." Xander gulped. "There's a slight magical malfunction..." he muttered, making the others laugh before their morphers chimed.

"_Rangers! There's a very strong dark magic presence in your area_," Udonna informed them.

"We can't all split on Toby," Nick walked over. "V and I will check it out, and we'll call Electra to help too. You guys help with...heavy metal boy," Nick laughed as he and Vida ran off.

"Oh awesome, leave us with the fun job," Vincent grumbled.

"Do you want some metal?" the cut-out come to life demanded, and Madison's face scrunched up as she shook her head. "Well I want...some prunes..." he frowned, straightening up.

"Oh I am severely grossed out," Vincent determined.

1-2-3-4-5

The roars of motocross bikes filled the air as several racers shot around the track. A couple of spectators cheered as a green and white bike maintained the lead, closely followed by another three bikes, leaving the other racers in the dust. As they crossed the finishing line, each bike rode off in a different direction, and Electra pulled off her helmet, shaking her head to stop her hair clinging to her face.

"That was a good race," she looked up to see the owner of the green bike, a man a fair bit older than herself. "You put up a good fight," he grinned.

"What are you talking about?" Electra raised an eyebrow as she tied her hair back up, not having had room for a ponytail under her helmet. "You dominated out there," she stated, making him laugh.

"Yeah, but I've had years of practice," he shrugged modestly. "You've really only been around here a few weeks, and you came third. That's impressive," the man told her, and Electra shook her head.

"I used to ride with my dad when I was younger," she explained. "I stopped when I was 15 to focus on other stuff," she'd become so absorbed in Pai Zhuq that she'd barely given anything else any thought. She'd even broken up with Ben to finish up her training so that she could become a Master.

"You should give yourself more credit. You're good," the man laughed. "So your dad races too?" he asked, and Electra nodded, hiding her smile. He had no clue who her father was. Dustin, Hunter and Blake had all freaked out when he had shown up in Storm Chargers. "That's cool. So that guy you've been with a lot, he's not here?" the man asked, and Electra shook her head.

"He had to head back to Blue Bay Harbour," Electra explained. "I'm Electra, by the way," she introduced herself, realising that she hadn't done so yet.

"I'm Aaron," the man, whose blond hair was streaked with grey, smiled back. "I'm gonna get a few more laps in before I head home, you care for a rematch?" he asked, but as Electra went to accept his challenge, her morpher chimed. She looked down at her bag, and sighed.

"Can't, I'm afraid. I have to meet up with some friends," she told him, and Aaron nodded.

"Next time then," he said, and Electra grinned, pulling her helmet back on. She grabbed her bag, and started her engine again, racing off as Aaron watched for a moment before heading back to his bike.

1-2-3-4-5

As Nick and Vida reached the place where the disturbance had been picked up, they heard a low roar and looked around as Electra reached them. Her motocross gear had been replaced with her uniform, and she still wore her helmet. As she slowed to a stop, she climbed off her bike and pulled her helmet off.

"Any idea what's going on?" Electra asked as they looked around the car park, which was completely empty except for a single taxi.

"Nope. There's nothing down here but a taxi," Vida shook her head. Suddenly the taxi began moving, making them all jump as it turned to face them.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't cars normally need drivers to, y'know, move?" Electra took a step back, before the hood of the car opened to reveal not an engine, but a monster. "Oh come on..."

"Whoa," Nick's eyes widened, and the taxi turned completely into a monster. "Steady guys!" Nick called as they took another step back. The monster ran at them, and the three fought him off, but Nick was thrown to the ground, with Vida being tossed on top of him. Electra was fast enough to dodge the monster's attempts to throw her, keeping him busy as the other two got back up. When they did, the three stood together, drawing their morphers.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they morphed and attacked the monster again, but within seconds the monster landed a powerful hit to Vida's stomach, knocking her to the ground with a cry.

"Vida!" Nick ran to her, before going at the monster again as he swatted Electra aside. Nick managed to throw the monster back as Electra helped Vida up, and they ran at the monster. However, as they got close, something struck all three of them in the chest and they hit the ground.

"Necrolai?!" Vida looked up at the bat woman as she stood by the monster.

"Who else?"

"Oh, I am so getting sick of that bat-faced freak," Electra groaned as the monster got back up.

"And I believe you've met my friend?" Necrolai smirked as the monster attacked them. The three got to their feet, only to be knocked off them again. They leapt up once again, and dodged as the monster ran at them. They attacked him again, but it wasn't long before they were back on the ground.

"Ok, I think it's safe to say I'm well acquainted with the ground now," Electra grumbled, before looking up as Xander, Chip, Madison and Vincent arrived, already morphed.

"There they are!"

"Time to end this party!" Necrolai determined as she looked around at the four. She whistled loudly, and the monster changed back into a taxi. "Deliver the map!" she ordered the monster.

"That's just crazy!" Vida put a hand to her helmet.

"Map?" Electra wondered aloud, but wasn't given time to ponder as the taxi sped away. The Rangers went to follow it, but Necrolai blasted them with her dark powers, flooring each Ranger.

"That's nothing compared to the power I'll soon have!" Necrolai mocked them, and let out a screech as she flew off.

"More power?"

"Let's go after her!" Nick was on his feet in an instant, but as he went to follow her, Xander grabbed him and yanked him back.

"Wait! We've got another problem," Xander indicated up, and they all froze as they spotted a camera.

"Oh...crap," Vincent groaned.

1-2-3-4-5

"You need to protect your identities at all cost," Udonna lectured the 7 Rangers as they watched the footage of Nick, Vida and Electra morphing. "This tape could put us all in danger," she warned them as Electra put a hand to her face.

"Such a rookie mistake...I've never been so stupid," she hissed to herself.

"Wait, what was that?" Madison noticed something, flipping her morpher out. She used her magic to close in on Necrolai, who was holding a piece of paper.

"Looks like some kinda map..." Nick frowned.

"Yes...but there's more to it than that...it's a map written by the ancients!" Udonna realised as she walked closer to the screen, her brow furrowing in surprise.

"Hmm..." Madison lifted her morpher again, and cast another spell. "Let's take a closer look," pale blue light flew from the screen, and created a replica of the map. Udonna lifted it, studying it curiously.

"Oh my...I thought this was lost!" she exclaimed, and looked up at the confused Rangers. "It's the map to the Fireheart!" she told them, which only confused them more.

"The Fireheart? No way!" Chip exclaimed, making them all look at him. "What's the Fireheart?" he asked after a short pause.

"The ancients believed it to be a tremendous source of power," Udonna explained as she studied it.

"So that's what Necrolai meant about more power," Vincent frowned. "We have to get to it before she does," he looked to the others, who nodded.

"That won't be easy, it says that you must traverse the Cimmerian Forest," Udonna told them, worry in her voice.

"That's alright, we like forests, don't we guys?" Xander grinned.

"Speak for yourself..." Electra muttered, looking over Udonna's shoulder at the map.

"This one is unlike any you know," Udonna looked up at Xander. "Imagine your worst nightmare," she told him gravely.

"That's easy," Chip spoke up. "My mom puts my cell phone in the dryer, and the next time we morph, my uniform is really tiny," his words made them all start laughing.

"Enough!" they stopped abruptly as Udonna whirled around, clearly not amused. "You are about to begin the most dangerous journey you have ever undertaken," she told them seriously. "Your path will be filled with unimaginable danger. Evil creatures, ravenous demons. Now go," she held out the map to Nick. "Remember, returning with the Fireheart will not be your success. Your success, will be to return at all."

1-2-3-4-5

"This isn't...so bad," Chip muttered as they walked through the forest. He paused as he noticed a sign stuck to a tree, which read: 'GO BACK! CIMMERIAN FOREST AHEAD'.

"Oh yeah...not so bad," Vincent muttered, already creeped out.

"I'm not looking forward to this..." Madison grumbled.

"Me neither," Nick agreed.

"I am," they all looked at Xander as he walked ahead. "I'll take the lead on this one. I know how to read maps pretty well," he told Nick, who watched him warily.

"You sure?"

"Like Toby said, I'm a born leader," Xander reminded him with a grin.

"Not sure I like where this is going..." Electra muttered under her breath.

"Ok..." Nick handed over the map. "It's all yours," he told the smiling Green Ranger.

"Ok...team Xander! Onward," he started walking.

"Yep, definitely not liking where this is going," Electra confirmed as they followed him. They walked in silence for several minutes, before spotting skeletons littering the grounds.

"This is my kinda place," Chip commented as he spotted the skull of some creature.

"Your kinda place? Chip, that is _terrifying _to know," Vincent told him as they kept walking, before hearing a strange sound. "What was that?" the Gold Ranger asked weakly as they looked around.

"I don't want to know," Electra replied, looking around nervously. The entire place set her on edge.

"Just keep moving," Nick told them, looking around as well.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers continued walking through the silent forest for a while, before Xander called out and stopped suddenly, causing the others to walk straight into him.

"Next time, just say stop," Vida growled at the green Ranger. "Whoa is for horses. I don't see any horses here, do you?"she demanded, and he nodded.

"Ok, I got it," he looked back down at the map, before another strange sound echoed around at the seemingly endless trees.

"Did you hear that?" Madison asked slowly, standing beside her sister.

"I really wish I hadn't," Vincent stood on Vida's other side, looking around.

"I've got a feeling that something has been following us since we started," Chip admitted, and they looked around. "I didn't want to say anything, cause I always think someone's following us," he told them.

"Someone has been following us," Electra's words made them stare at her, before a figure appeared upside down above them, making all but Electra cry out in shock.

"It's only Phineas," Nick shook his head as they looked up at the Troblin, who folded his arms, still upside down.

"Oh, it's only the Rangers," Phineas replied in a dry voice, making them laugh.

"Sorry Phineas, we're on an important mission," Xander told him. "Don't have time for a visit," as he went to lead them on, Phineas flipped out of the tree, landing nearby.

"Tell you what," Phineas grinned. "Seeing as you asked so nicely, I'll take you through the forest," he told them, and they looked back to Xander.

"Maybe we should let Phineas lead," Nick suggested to the green ranger. "Sounds like he knows the place," he pointed out as the others nodded in agreement.

"I know this forest like the back of my-" Phineas stopped as he noticed something new. "Lucky me! New wart," he grinned to the Rangers.

"Don't need any help," Xander insisted, gesturing to the map. "I know exactly where I'm going!" he told them, flashing a grin. "This way team," he started walking, and the others glanced back at Phineas, before following Xander.

"Ok...well no problem!" Phineas called after them. "Have a nice day! Just...sorry I'll never ever see you again..." he commented as they continued walking. "But hey, have fun!" he shouted.

1-2-3-4-5

"Hey, hold up!" Nick called after another hour of walking. "Excuse me, leader?" the Red Ranger called to Xander, who was covered in dirt by this point. "We're going in circles," Nick walked up to him. "We've passed that tree stump like three times," he told the taller teen. "Admit it, we're lost."

"We are not," Xander shook his head.

"We are too," Nick replied.

"We are not," Xander replied stubbornly.

"We _are _sinking!" Electra realised, and they looked down.

"Swamp sand!"

"Everybody Ranger up!" Xander yelled, and they quickly drew their morphers.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they chanted, but nothing happened.

"No, no, no!" Vincent yelled.

"Great, our morphers don't work out here," Chip exclaimed, and Electra disappeared. The swamp sand where she had been made a loud squelching noise, and she reappeared nearby, falling over as her legs didn't expect to be used. She scrambled back to her feet, grabbing a vine.

"Nick, here!" Electra reached out, and grasped the Red Ranger's hand. "Everyone, grab hold of each other," she called to them. Nick caught Vida's arm as he was pulled out, and Vida was yanked out as well. She caught Vincent, who pulled Chip along as he was pulled out, but as he helped to yank Madison out, Xander let out a yell as he sank even more, already submerged to his chin. Nick leapt closer and grabbed the Green Ranger's arm, and with Vincent's help they pulled him out of the sand.

"Let's re-evaluate," Nick decided as they all lay on the ground, covered in muck and breathing heavily. "Take out the map," he told Xander, whose eyes widened. He looked around, just in time for the map to disappear into the sand. They all groaned, falling back onto the ground. "Great!"

"Who needs a map!" Xander yelled as he pushed himself up a little. "I looked at that thing a million times! It's all up here!" he told them quickly.

"Oh wow...I feel so reassured," Electra spoke sarcastically. While she had escaped the swamp sand before it had even reached her waist, helping the others out had covered her in as much mud as them, and her hair stuck to her face. Xander swayed, nearly falling back into the sand.

1-2-3-4-5

The seven continued walking, exhausted, covered in mud and getting hungry. It was another hour before Xander suddenly stopped at a fork in the road.

"Now where?" Nick sighed as he looked around.

"It's that way!" Xander decided, going to walk down one path, before Phineas reappeared, startling Xander so he fell over.

"I wouldn't go that way," he told the green ranger, before flipping off the tree and landing perfectly once again. "Only took me a few years to learn that landing on my feet, was easier than landing on my face," Phineas admitted with a smile.

"Maybe now would be a good time to ask Phineas for his help?" Madison suggested as they smiled.

"We don't need anything!" Xander insisted, shaking his head. "We are fine!" he told them.

"Speak for yourself, plant boy," Electra growled.

"He's right!" Phineas nodded. "You don't need anything. Because very soon, you're going to be eaten by a Borbeast," he told them with a smile. "But hey, once again, have a nice day," Phineas started to walk away as the others exchanged looks.

"He's just trying to scare us!" Xander told them quickly. "Come on guys!" he smiled, before going to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Nick spoke up. "I'm going with Phineas," he decided, walking after the Troblin.

"Same here," Electra was quick to follow the Red Ranger.

"Me too," Vida nodded, and Xander's smile dropped as he stared at the three. "Guys?" Vida looked to the remaining three who stood with Xander. They looked to Xander apologetically, before walking towards the others.

"Guys! I know where I'm going!" Xander told them, desperation starting to show in his voice. "Ok then, ok, I'll cover your shifts for two weekends at the Rock Porium if you stick with me," he bartered, and Madison looked to her sister, who shook her head.

"Make it three," Madison sighed heavily, and Xander nodded.

"Deal! Chip, Vincent?" he looked to the two males, who exchanged looks.

"Deal," they both nodded, and started following Xander. "I've always wanted to see a Borbeast anyway," Chip grinned to the others before disappearing.

"If my brother gets eaten, I will not be held responsible," Electra slapped a hand to her muddy face.

"Come on!" Phineas called to the three remaining Rangers, and they started following him.

1-2-3-4-5

The three followed the Troblin through the forest for a while.

"After you," he gestured to them as they climbed a hill. "Mams," he gestured to Vida and Electra, who smiled at him. They reached the end of the trees, and looked around. "Congratulations! You've made it out of the Cimmerian Forest!" Phineas smiled to them. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got things to do," Phineas told them, and they smiled.

"Thanks Phineas, you really saved our butts," Electra smiled to him.

"Aw, it was nothin'," the Troblin hurried off back into the forest, and Vida grimaced.

"Hopefully one of those things he has to do is a bath," she muttered, and they walked over to the edge, which led to a long drop. Electra swallowed and backed up. Even on her Mystic Racer, she still hated heights, but at least then she was morphed. "That's a long way down," Vida commented.

"Come on. Let's find the Fireheart and get out of here," Nick suggested, and they started walking again.

"I really hope my sister's ok..." Vida commented as they looked around. "And the others...I can't believe Xander's being so stubborn with this whole leader thing," she shook her head in disbelief.

"He wants to prove that he can be a leader...but what he doesn't realise is that one of the best qualities of a leader is to understand when to be a follower," Electra sighed as she swatted a fly out of her way. The other two looked around at her with raised eyebrows. "What?" she frowned.

"Where do you get this stuff?" Nick asked, shaking his head with a small smile.

"That one I got from Sensei, our mentor when I was the black Monochrome Ranger," Electra admitted with a guilty smile.

"You had someone with leadership issues?" Vida asked curiously.

"Oh yeah. It was Shane and Hunter who caused the most problems, they clashed so much. I blame the fact that they were both reds...even if Hunter refuses to admit that he was red. Crimson is Red," Electra muttered the last bit to herself. "Though I suppose that was why Connor and I butted heads so much," she laughed as she thought about this.

"Hold up, Hunter was a Ranger?" Nick looked back at her again quickly.

"Well...yeah," Electra gave him an incredulous Ranger. "Technically he still is, our morphers are still working, just not being used. Did you seriously not know that?" Nick shook his head, and Electra noticed Vida doing the same. "It is scary how observant you guys are," Electra muttered.

"Oh shut up," Nick grumbled, rolling his eyes and looking forwards as Electra couldn't hide her grin. After a while of searching, the three found a way down, completely unaware that their friends were now at the mercy of a giant spider. "Over there!" Nick spotted a pile of rocks that was glowing brightly. "Think that's it?" he looked to the two girls.

"Well it's definitely magical. It's worth a try," Electra nodded.

"Let's see if we've got our powers back," Vida suggested as she drew her morpher. She summoned a spell that turned her into a tornado, and she destroyed the pile of rocks.

"Yeah, I think we've got our powers back," Electra grinned as Vida walked over. However, she couldn't prize the object in the rock free, and looked over to Nick.

"I'll take it from here," Nick nodded, drawing his own morpher. He flipped it open, and used his fire magic to melt the rock, to reveal a thin tube.

"I swear to _god_, if that is a bloody scroll..." Electra growled as they walked over. Vida lifted the tube and pulled out a piece of paper.

"The secret of the Fireheart," Vida grinned to them, and they smiled back, before a blast knocked them off their feet, and made Vida lose her grip on the paper.

"I'll take that!" Necrolai caught the paper and landed. "Fireheart is mine! Hidiacs!" she called on the foot soldiers, and the three Rangers started fighting. Electra back-flipped over one of the Hidiacs, and as she landed she kicked it into another two. With a swift kick, she floored another, but as she took down another one, Necrolai attacked. The ground beneath the three exploded and they were thrown to the ground. The Taxi from before reappeared, and the three groaned as they got back up.

"You think we would have learned this by now!" Vida commented as they breathed heavily.

"Let's Ranger up!" Nick nodded, and they ran at the two as they morphed. Vida leapt into the air and went after Necrolai with Electra, while Nick called on his bike and challenged the taxi monster. Electra slammed her boot into Necrolai's stomach, and shoved her back.

"You know, I never got you back for using that strange power before!" Necrolai retaliated, knocking Electra to the ground with a kick before punching Vida. "Just what was that? It was no magic," the bat woman stood over her.

"It was none of your business!" Electra spun, kicking Necrolai back and returning to her feet. She leapt around as Necrolai started firing blasts at her, before back-flipping to avoid another. She then pushed forwards and punched Necrolai in the face, only to be punched back. Vida caught Necrolai with a kick, but like Electra's attacks, it did little to affect her. They were knocked down by Necrolai's magic attacks, but pushed themselves back up, attacking again before Vida was thrown to the ground again.

"V!" Nick helped the pink ranger up as Electra jumped back, making sure she was ok.

"We're here!" Vincent's yell made them look around to see him, Xander, Madison and Chip running towards them, once again already morphed. Madison helped her sister up, and they faced the monster again.

"Let's show this overgrown bag what we're made of!" Vida yelled, and the seven leapt in the air, landing on higher ground.

"POWER RANGERS, MYSTIC FORCE!" they chanted, and the monster let out a roar. Nick leapt down before the monster could attack, and faced the taxi monster again while the others attacked Necrolai. When Nick was knocked to the ground, Vida and Electra joined them.

"Tornado Power!" Vida flew through the air, spinning as she created a tornado, and flew at the monster.

"Try a little Darkness too!" Electra thrust her Magi Staff out, and darkness surrounded the monster, attacking him from all around.

"Fire Power!" Nick leapt through the air as his sword was surrounded by fire, and he delivered the final strike to the monster.

"That cab's busted!" Vida grinned to the two as the taxi crashed to the ground and exploded. As usual, a purple seal appeared and the monster reappeared, growing much bigger.

"Time to go Titan!" Xander called, and they spun, calling on their Titan power. The monster turned back into a taxi, and Nick jumped onto it.

"Guys, a little help? The metre's running!" he yelled.

"Oh the taxi jokes..." Electra sighed as Vida, smaller than the rest of the Titans, leapt into the air.

"How about we shoot and score?" she turned into a ball, just as Nick was thrown off.

"Let's give this guy a flip kick!" he pushed off the cliff and flipped through the air, slamming his foot into the ball. Set alight, it hit the taxi, causing a huge amount of damage.

"TITAN MEGAZORD FORMATION!" they combined into the Megazord, and called on the sabre as the monster changed back and ran at them. "Let's do it!" Nick called. "MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" as the monster got up, the seal hit him. "Yeah! You're totalled!" Nick grinned, and Electra looked down at Necrolai, who still held the secret of the Fireheart in her hand.

"I think that belongs to us!" Electra teleported down and grabbed the paper from Necrolai, who managed to hold on. A tug of war resulted between the black ranger and the bat woman, before it ripped and Electra staggered backwards.

"Whoa, you ok?" Vincent stopped her from falling as she stared down at the ripped paper.

"Look what you've done! You'll regret this, black ranger!" Necrolai snarled, before flying off with the other half.

"Well, at least we have half of it," Madison commented as she looked down at the paper.

"Yeah, whatever it is," Xander commented, and Electra opened it to reveal part of a map.

"At least it's not a scroll," she muttered, studying it curiously.

1-2-3-4-5

"I'm sorry everyone," Xander's words made the other workers in Rock Porium look up. "A born leader, knows when to follow," he told them, and both Nick and Vida looked to Electra, who was looking at CDs nearby.

"I may have given him a few words of wisdom," she looked over and winked at the two, who laughed.

"It's not a total loss," Madison nodded with a smile. "You learned from this Xander," he smiled back a little sheepishly, before another voice spoke up.

"Hello mates," they all spun around to see Jake Bonebreaker, the man that Toby idolised. "My tour bus broke down so I thought I'd kill some time in here while it's getting fixed," the man with long black hair grinned as the six workers stared at him. Electra glanced from him, to the cut-out, raising an eyebrow. "Hey! Handsome fellow isn't he?" he noticed the cut-out and grinned.

"You have got to meet our boss! He is your biggest fan!" Vida laughed.

"Toby! Guess who's here!" Nick yelled, and Toby emerged from his office. "Jake Bonebreaker!" he yelled, but Toby just scowled.

"I'm not falling for that again. Got work to do," he frowned, returning to his phone call and disappearing back into his office.

"Well, it's never boring here," Vincent laughed, glancing to his sister, who grinned back. She had to agree.

**Well my attention span has gone on the decline again...I blame two conventions in a row...I'll update by Thursday night anyways!**

**Let me know what you think!**


	7. Stranger Within Part 1

Chapter 7: Stranger Within Part 1

Night had fallen in Briarwood and Rock Porium was closing for the night. Electra leaned against the counter as Vida sorted out papers behind it.

"Oi Vincent, you done yet?" Electra called to her brother, looking over as he sorted out the CDs.

"Nearly done, oh nagging one," Vincent replied, grinning as Electra rolled her eyes. As the weather got colder, the nights grew longer and even more creepy.

"Hey!" Electra looked around as Nick went to shut the door, only for Leelee to burst in.

"Sorry Leelee, we're closing," Nick sighed. He had very little patience for the blonde girl who had influenced the belief that Nick had stolen money from Rock Porium. Electra didn't trust her in the slightest.

"Perfect! That means you have no excuse for not taking me to see this great new DJ tonight," Leelee turned to smile brightly at him.

"No can do. Already have plans," Nick turned her down instantly as he walked away, and Electra smirked.

"Come on..._please_?" Leelee pleaded as her smile fell.

"Don't waste your time throwing yourself at him Leelee," Xander told her as he walked over, and flashed a charming smile. "Throw yourself at me," he winked, and Leelee stared at him, looking completely disgusted at the thought.

"Ok...you can come with me," she decided to settle, and Xander turned around to grin at Vincent, who laughed and shook his head as Electra just rolled her eyes.

"He can't go either, he's the one I have plans with," Nick popped out of the office, and Xander's smile dropped instantly as Electra started laughing. Xander begrudgingly walked back over to the red ranger, and Vida grabbed the flyer.

"DJ Fly...never heard of him," Vida commented, and looked to the blonde. "Any good?"

"He's just like the hottest new DJ around," Leelee stated. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of him."

"I better check this guy out," Vida decided, always curious about other DJs in town.

"Great! You can come with me!" Leelee smiled.

"Uh, Vida...don't you have plans with Maddie? And the rest of us," Electra frowned, folding her arms as the pink ranger pouted.

"Isn't she like, with her new boyfriend?" Leelee scowled as yet another hopeful companion seemed to be snatched away from her. "Can't believe she has a boyfriend and I don't..." she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, such a wonder why that is," Electra muttered, making Nick smirk.

"Vida's got plans with us," the red ranger spoke up.

"But there's new talent in town!" Vida protested, looking distraught. "Our plans can wait till tomorrow!" she insisted.

"No, they can't! You gave your word that you'd help V," Nick reminded her with a stern expression. Vida's scowl grew and she glared at the floor. "Thanks for the invite Leelee, some other time. We're closed," Nick all but shoved Leelee out the door, and as he closed it, she stalked off angrily.

"All hail the mighty red ranger and his skills of getting rid of people," Vincent laughed as he walked over.

"We have half the Fireheart scroll to figure out," Nick reminded them as he grabbed his jacket. "Chip and Madison are waiting for us at Rootcore, remember?" Vida looked down at the flyer in her hands as Xander rolled his eyes.

"Since when did you become the good witch of Briarwood?" he complained.

"Aww, did somebody miss out on a date?" Electra teased, patting his back as she passed him, pulling on her hoody as he glared at her.

"You coming, V?" Vincent looked around to the pink ranger.

"Be there in a few! I got some paperwork to catch up on," she called back to them, and they left Rock Porium, heading to the forest. The wind hit the four hard.

"Any money she's going to see that DJ," Electra commented as she shivered.

"Nah, V wouldn't blow this off. She knows how important it is," Vincent shook his head, and Electra rolled her eyes.

"You talk like you forget that she didn't blow off our first incantations lesson to try and unlock spell codes with Chip," she pointed out, and the three guys frowned, hoping that the pink ranger would show up.

1-2-3-4-5

"I give up," Xander grumbled as he stared at the piece of paper. He set it down, shaking his head. Madison and Electra poured over books, trying to find any kind of hint as to what secret the paper held. "Maybe we're not meant to find out the secret of the Fireheart."

"Come on," Nick shoved a book into Xander's chest. "Don't give up. Never give up," he then passed a book to Madison.

"Wow, Nick. That's inspiring," Madison smiled, and Electra took another book from him, before using it to smack her sleeping brother over the head. He let out a yelp and fell off his seat, making the black ranger roll her eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I thought when Udonna yelled it at me this morning when I was ready to quit," the others laughed lightly and tried to keep going. All of them were exhausted after spending the entire night and morning working.

"Where is Udonna anyway?" Vincent asked as he stood up, rubbing his head and glaring blearily at Electra.

"Last time I saw her, she was teaching Claire an invisibility spell," Madison explained.

"That could be the problem right there," Chip grinned, and the others started laughing. The door to Rootcore opened, and Vida walked in, making them all look up.

"Yo crew, sorry I'm late," she spoke lightly as she walked down.

"Late? We haven't seen you since yesterday," Nick frowned as they all stared at her. "That's beyond late. So much for giving us your word," Nick walked down from the higher level, his eyes narrowed at the pink ranger.

"Relax," Vida rolled her eyes. "You're not my dad. So I missed a night of saving the world," she dismissed it, and leaned forwards in the chair she had slumped into. "Good news is, world's still here," Vida looked bored, and smiled.

"Uh, V, it's not just that you missed last night. You missed all day too," Xander pointed out. "It's night-time again," the others nodded.

"Yeah, I thought we were going to catch a movie when we took a break from all this reading," Vincent frowned.

"I was worried about you," Madison nodded, watching her sister, who sighed and stood up.

"Look, I'm sorry," she apologised as she looked at the Rangers. "I gave my word and I blew it, it won't happen again," she told them in a low voice.

"Hey, no problem V," Chip told her. "We all make mistakes," his words made Vida smile. Nick suddenly put his hand to his head, and they all looked around at him.

"You alright?" Electra noticed his behaviour as he let out a small grunt of pain.

"We've got trouble," Nick's headache disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Koragg again?" Xander wondered. It had been a while since the knight had contacted Nick telepathically.

"Yeah. Come on," Nick led the way out of Rootcore.

1-2-3-4-5

The sky was still dark as the group of seven ran through the forest, looking around for any sign of trouble. The sign came when Hidiacs burst out of the bushes, and the Rangers skidded to a stop.

"Let's Ranger up!" Nick called, but before they could draw their morphers, Vida stepped forwards.

"Why bother?" she asked, and ran at the Hidiacs. With quick, powerful strikes, she made quick word of the Hidiacs who ran at her. The other Rangers stared in shock as Vida flashed a confident smirk at them, before tossing a couple more foot soldiers out of the way.

"Whoa, V is kicking ass!" Vincent laughed as he watched in amazement.

"This catching up on her sleep thing seems to be paying off for her," Xander nodded, a look of disbelief on his face. Vida continued to take out the Hidiacs with no problem.

"Go sis..." Madison couldn't help but smile. "I've never seen her like this before," she commented.

"Me neither," Vincent shook his head.

"Neither have I," Chip nodded, before frowning. "It's just weird," he watched as Vida took out the last with her magic.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one who's finding this change in strength weird," Electra muttered to the yellow Ranger, and they all ran over to Vida as she straightened up, dusting herself off.

"Nice V!" Vincent grinned as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Very impressive," another voice spoke out, taking them by surprise. They looked over at Koragg, who stood nearby. "Now how about a real challenge?" the knight leapt into the air, casting a spell to grow much larger. The Rangers grabbed their morphers quickly, staring up at him.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" They then cast their own spell to grow into their Titan forms, and Koragg drew his sword.

"Welcome to your last fight!"

"That's what you think!" Nick yelled back as they prepared to attack.

"Wolf attack," Koragg held out his shield, which opened to reveal the strange red light within. It flashed, and blasted at them, hitting Madison, Xander and Vida while the others managed to dodge it and run at Koragg.

"Bring it, you purple freak!" Electra rolled and kicked up, but Koragg blocked with his shield and hit Chip with his sword. As he hit Nick and threw him into Electra, Madison leapt in, only to be hit several times and floored.

"You want some of this?" Xander swung his axe, but Koragg blocked it and struck the much larger Titan.

"Could use some help V!" Chip yelled to the pink Ranger as Koragg hit Vincent across the chest, and turned his blade on Electra.

"Incoming!" the pink Titan had transformed into a ball, and flew to Chip, who caught her.

"Little game of catch, Koragg?" he yelled, tossing the ball into Koragg, shoving him back.

"I'm not done yet!" Koragg recovered and called on Catastros as Chip and Vida faced him. The horse appeared from a spell seal, and formed his own Megazord. "Now you will feel my own power!" he called to the Rangers.

"Talk is cheap, you don't scare us!" Nick yelled back as they stood together.

"Let's show him!"

"Let's do this!"

"Let's go!"

"MYSTIC TITANS, DRAGON FORMATION!" the Rangers called, but before they could do anything, the sun rose, and Vida let out a scream.

"The sun's so bright!" she cried as she tried to shield herself from it. "I feel all..." Vida fell from Xander's shoulder and crashed to the ground as the others looked around quickly. Even Koragg was surprised by her actions. Vida groaned, before changing back to her normal size and demorphing, collapsing in the dirt.

"You ok sis?" Madison called as they all looked down at her.

"V!" both Chip and Vincent yelled as they stared down at her.

"You lose one, and you all quit?!" Koragg growled, and Xander spun around, raising his arms and shielding the others from Koragg's powerful attack. "Look at pitiful yourselves...you are defenceless," he spat, and turned around. "I waste my time," Koragg disappeared, and Chip looked down again.

"Guys, we have to help her!" Chip called to the others as he stared at the pink ranger, who blacked out.

1-2-3-4-5

"What happened to Vida at the club the other night?" as soon as Leelee walked into Rock Porium, Xander, Nick, Chip and Vincent surrounded her.

"She's been acting a little strange since then," Chip frowned, and Leelee offered a smile.

"She was acting strange _at _the club. She was like, nice to me, even talking to me!" she giggled.

"Leelee, this is important," Xander told the blonde girl gently. Her smile faded, and she nodded.

"Alright..." she nodded. "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but I couldn't stay. My mum called and I had to leave," Leelee insisted. "Vida was fine when I left," she remembered, and the Rangers looked around to see Madison walk in with Vida, who wore a hoody and large sunglasses. "And had a better tan," Leelee added as she saw how pale Vida was.

"Hey V, you feeling any better?" Vincent smiled at his girlfriend as she walked over.

"Hey..." Vida muttered back. "I guess so. Just a little sensitive to sunlight," she shrugged, walking straight past him. Vincent's smile fell, and Chip frowned.

"Pale complexion...sensitive to sunlight..." Chip pulled out a book and started to read it as the others stared at Vida.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra sat in Rootcore, going over as many books as she could, trying to find out not only something to do with the Fireheart, but also what was wrong with Vida. She ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head as she grew frustrated. The others were at work, keeping an eye on Vida, but Electra was worried. Something was wrong, and she just couldn't figure out what. She was snapped out of her focus as her phone rang, and she frowned, lifting it out of her pocket.

"Wow, the magical realm has some good signal..." she commented, before answering. "Hey Letha. What's up?" she spoke as she turned the page.

"_Electraaaaa_," the black ranger couldn't help but smile as she heard the whine down the phone. It was nice to hear from her best friend. "_How's Briarwood treating you? Getting into trouble with all the monster attacks going on_?" the ex-white ranger asked brightly.

"Me? Get into trouble?" Electra responded with mock innocence. "Since when do I get into trouble?" Letha laughed, which made Electra grin.

"_Do you even know yourself Electra? You're always in trouble_," Letha teased. Electra had to agree. She had a bad habit of getting mixed up in things that she shouldn't be mixed up in.

"Briarwood's been great. I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit much," Electra told her, turning the page before shaking her head and throwing it aside with a dull thump. "My brother has the same problem with getting mixed up in things. He ended up with a job like the day we got here," Letha giggled as Electra talked. "I've been keeping an eye on him, and the guys he works with are pretty cool. I'd say you'd get on well with at least one of them," Electra commented as she thought about how Letha got as excited as Chip did over the slightest things.

"_I'll definitely come visit soon, as soon as I get a break from the Light Ninja Academy. I hate exams_," Letha grumbled, and Electra laughed.

"You and me both," Electra nodded, before sitting forwards. "Hey Letha, your Ninja Academy is close to Briarwood, do you know anything about the weird things going on here?" she asked hopefully.

"_Why, so you can go and get involved in them_?" Letha teased, and Electra rolled her eyes. "_I've heard that there's some weird stuff in that city, but Sensei Hitari never told me. I can ask, if you want_?" she offered.

"Nah, it's ok. Better I don't get involved, right?" Electra grinned, making Letha giggle. "One more question. Have you ever heard of the Fireheart?" she asked hopefully.

"_Nope! Sorry_," Letha replied, and Electra sighed. "_What is it_?" Letha asked, curious now. Electra bit her lip.

"I don't know. I saw the name somewhere and it kinda stuck with me, but nobody knows where it's from. So, spending lots of time in the library," Electra replied. "Speaking of which, I better go, I still have stuff to do. Talk to you laters."

"_Awww...laters Electra. I'll see ya soon_," Letha hung up, and Electra sighed, leaning her head back as she pocketed her phone.

"Who was that?" she looked around at Madison, as the other Rangers walked over into Rootcore, minus Vida.

"My best friend. She's from Briarwood, actually," Madison looked surprised as Electra flipped open another book. "She moved to Blue Bay Harbour when we fought Lothor, and ended up staying there to be with her boyfriend, even if it means commuting back to the Light Ninja Academy," she explained, smiling up at her.

"Light Ninja Academy?" Chip gaped at her, and Electra nodded.

"Yeah, it's in the mountains on the other side of Briarwood," Electra chuckled. "Don't even think about going looking for it. I'd get my ass handed to me for telling you. Not that you'd actually be able to find the entrance," Electra commented, more to herself than them. "So where's Vida?" she asked as she looked at the others.

"She was sleeping in this morning," Madison shrugged, and Electra shook her head. She caught Chip's gaze, and noticed that he was as worried as she was. "Any luck with the Fireheart?" the blue ranger asked.

"Not a single clue. I seriously don't know how we're going to figure this out," Electra shook her head, becoming frustrated as she thought about it.

"We'll figure it out," Nick told her confidently. "We always do," Electra nodded.

"Yeah, we will," she agreed, and went back to her book, studying it intently.

1-2-3-4-5

A little while passed, and everyone looked up from what they were doing as the door into Rootcore opened.

"Good morning Rootcore," Vida walked in and smiled pleasantly.

"Hey sis, you're feeling better!" Madison smiled as she ran over to her sister. Electra looked up and watched the pale girl warily. Although nothing seemed off with her animal spirit, something about Vida put the black ranger on edge. She'd been in danger enough times to sense when it was near, and that's what she felt when the pink ranger approached.

"I feel great! I slept like a baby," Vida grinned. "Let's rock and roll!" she exclaimed as Chip got up, holding something behind his back.

"You slept like a log," Nick corrected. "22 hours worth," he looked up from his book as Madison pulled out her camera.

"Hey V, say a few words to your fans," the blue ranger called to her sister.

"Alright," Vida stalked towards the camera, which sent a chill down Electra's spine. "I'll show you a new pose that came to me in a dream," she posed, holding one hand up with her finger's in a V shape near her eye.

"Looking good!" Vincent cheered with a laugh.

"After such a long nap you must be very thirsty V," Chip held out a glass filled with a red liquid, and Vida took it, taking a drink. However, she made a face and spat it out, making the others look over in confusion.

"It's tomato juice!" Vida yelled in disgust.

"Aw what, did you think it was blood?!" Chip's demand took everyone by surprise.

"Pardon me?" Xander frowned in confusion.

"Why would she think it was blood?" Vincent asked as Electra tilted her head.

"I am a card carrying member of Count V," Chip pulled a brightly coloured card from his pocket. When everyone looked blank, Chip rolled his eyes. "Containment of Underworld Nocturnal Transylvanian Vampires Club! And I, my friends, have found myself a vampire," Chip grinned triumphantly as he pocketed his card.

"My sister is a vampire?" Madison asked sceptically.

"Pale skin, sensitivity to light, sleeping _all _day?" Chip's head tilted a little as he stared at Vida. "Thirst for _blood_?" Vida started to laugh. "Textbook Vampire signs!" he held up his book, which was entitled 'How to Spot a Vampire'. There was a moment of silence, when everyone, minus Chip and Electra, burst out laughing.

"Come on guys, we're late for work," Nick shook his head, still laughing.

"I'll meet with you guys later," Vida called. "I gotta grab a _bite _before I go!" she pretended to lunge at Chip, who jolted and stepped back. The others kept laughing as they left.

"Ok...maybe I'm wrong..." Chip muttered. "I'll stay here and go in with V..." he sighed, looking dejected that his idea had been wrong.

"By the way Chip..." Vida walked away from the yellow Ranger as Electra stood nearby, still watching. "You were right. I am a Vampire..." Chip and Electra froze as Vida turned around. Her eyes started to glow red, and fangs protruded from her mouth. She leapt at Chip, who let out a cry and held up a piece of garlic, making her freeze.

"Garlic clove!" he yelled, and Vida looked up at Electra, who instantly disappeared and reappeared behind Chip, watching Vida warily. "I knew it! You're a vampire!"

"She's actually a Vampire..." Electra muttered, putting a hand to her face.

"You don't sound all that shocked to know Vampires actually exist," Chip commented to her.

"Chip, I've seen space ninjas, giant dinosaur robots, evil curses that cause bad luck, and a lot more, especially since I came to Briarwood. I've given up thinking that there's no such thing of anything," she replied, keeping her eyes on Vida. "Vampires though...they were at the bottom of my list..."

"This is so great...oh, well, except for you," he commented as he glanced to Vida, who was shying away from the garlic. "You're a blood-sucking night demon..." Chip told Vida as she snarled at him in pain and anger.

1-2-3-4-5

Night set in Briarwood and Electra sat outside, while Chip kept Vida at bay nearby.

"I don't want to be a Vampire..." Vida complained dejectedly.

"Who does?" Chip replied, and offered a smile. "But I'm going to help you. I promise," he told her earnestly. Electra glanced over, and sighed. She couldn't believe how blind she'd been at first. How could she not have seen how Chip looked at Vida, even now when she was a vampire attempting to kill him. And she could tell that, while she did care for Vincent, she liked Chip a lot more. Even if she didn't realise it herself. Vida hissed again and lunged at Chip, who just held up the garlic again. Vida flinched away, before jumping at Electra. The black ranger didn't even look up, instead holding up a spare garlic clove. Vida staggered back into her seat, and sighed.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help myself...you know I'd never hurt you," Vida told Chip, her expression one of utter torment. She was hating herself for her lack of control.

"Yeah well, unfortunately there's a very fine line between hurting me, and biting me to give me eternal life," Chip smiled wryly. "It must have happened when you went to listen to that DJ. We find him and we'll get to the bottom of it," he looked away as he thought about it, and Vida inched closer before Chip lifted the garlic again. She hissed and leaned back, away from it.

"I'll get the others, and let them know," Electra stood up, brushing herself off.

"No!" the master looked around at Vida's sharp protest. "They already think Chip's off his rocker! Let's get as much info as we can, then tell them..." Electra frowned, but nodded. Without the proof, even she would be dismissed by the others. Chip stood up, and Vida jumped for him again, taking him by surprise. He quickly lifted the garlic and pushed her back.

"This could be a two clove night," he commented, and Electra clapped him on the shoulder.

"Lucky for you then, that I'm here," she grinned, and he nodded. "I really have to stop going behind the leader's back...I really do have leadership issues," Electra sighed to herself, and they headed off to find the mysterious DJ.

1-2-3-4-5

The three walked into the strange club, looking around at the people who stared ahead. They swayed a little, but other than that, there was no reaction to the music that played.

"If you ask me V, you're a lot better than he is," Chip commented.

"And you get a way better reaction too," Electra added as she looked around.

"V?" Chip noticed that Vida didn't respond, and glanced to the pink ranger turned vampire, to find her staring straight ahead, falling into the same trance as the others. Chip and Electra looked around, frowning, before looking ahead. Both of their expressions went blank, and the DJ turned into a monster, laughing.

"Good girl," a familiar voice spoke over the music. "You have brought another _two _rangers for us to control," Necrolai spoke to Vida, a hand on her head as Vida didn't respond. "Do your thing, Flytrap!" the bat called to the monster at the front of the room. "But leave the Rangers to me, they're all mine!" she ordered, and Flytrap shot out strange vines that hit everyone else in the room except for the Rangers. Flytrap continued to laugh as he pulled his vines back, and Necrolai looked to Chip. "Welcome to the dark side, Rangers," she spoke softly, only for Chip to swat her away and jump away as Electra turned to smirk at her too.

"Nice try Fang-Face, but you'll have to get up mighty early in the day to pull one over on me," Chip pulled out a pair of earplugs, and Electra did the same.

"The dark side isn't what it's cracked up to be," Electra shrugged. "I think I'll stick with the good side," she decided, grinning to Chip.

"Huh! No matter!" Necrolai ran at them, and Chip ran behind Vida, pulling her away from Necrolai's attacks as Electra looked around.

"Dammit...there are too many innocent people here to start fighting..." she muttered angrily. She focused on helping Necrolai's attacks on Chip miss, by catching the bat with small, less powerful attacks of her own.

"Have a seat!" Chip rushed Necrolai with a chair, but Necrolai jumped over it. The two kept fighting, before Chip was floored.

"Goodnight, Ranger!" Necrolai ran at Chip, only for him to raise the clove of garlic from before. Necrolai screamed, backing away, giving Electra time to pull Chip up to his feet. "Just kidding!" Necrolai suddenly laughed, and knocked the clove out of his hand. "Your little vampire tricks won't work on me, Ranger," Chip went to run, only for Necrolai to grab him. "No you don't!" she threw him aside.

"Alright, let's try a big trick," Chip got to his feet, and nodded to Electra. They both pulled out their morphers, and flipped them open.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Game's over Necrolai!" Chip called to the bat woman as the two morphed.

"Flytrap!" she suddenly yelled, and they realised that they had forgotten about the monster behind the decks. Vines wrapped around the Rangers, squeezing tightly. "Wrong, the game's just beginning!" Necrolai told them. "Flytrap! Destroy the girl!" she ordered.

"No!" Chip screamed as he broke free, blocking the hit meant for Vida. He crashed to the ground, demorphing as his face scrunched up in pain.

"Ouch! That had to hurt!" Necrolai commented carelessly. "Go my servants! Go and destroy the city!" she ordered. "In a few hours when the sun rises, you will all turn to ash!" she laughed, before Electra broke free and blasted her with her powers. "You are becoming an annoyance!" Necrolai turned to her as Electra ran at her, only for the bat to slam her fist into her stomach. She hurled her through the wall, and Electra hit the ground hard, demorphing. Necrolai laughed, and disappeared along with Flytrap. Electra rolled over, before blacking out.

1-2-3-4-5

"Electra...wake up," Electra groaned and rolled over.

"Five more minutes Letha...I swear I won't be late for work," she swatted them away, and Chip rolled his eyes.

"Hey, wake up," he shook her even more, and Electra's eyes flew open.

"Crap crap crap!" she was on her feet in an instant, and regretted it. "Damn...that hag hits hard," she groaned as she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Vida asked, watching her carefully.

"Fine...I just need a moment to stop myself from throwing up," Electra replied, before looking up at her. "What about you?" she asked warily.

"Still all vampire-y, but Chip helped knock some sense into me," she smiled to Chip, who blushed.

"Great, but we still have the matter of innocent people destroying the city and turning into dust in a matter of hours, so let's go," Electra told them, and they nodded, drawing their morphers again.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they morphed and ran out of the club, into the city where Flytrap was ordering those he had taken over around.

"Hold it right there Flytrap!" Chip called as they spotted him, and he spun around.

"V!" the three looked around as the other four Rangers reached them. "Are you alright?" Madison asked her sister.

"Never better!" Vida posed to her sister.

"Glad to hear it," Vincent put a hand on her shoulder and smiled under his helmet. "Let's squash this bug," he turned his head to Flytrap, and the others nodded. Vincent's smile faltered a little as he looked at the monster. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed that something really bad had happened to Vida. He had just thought she was acting a little strange, just like Nick, Xander and Maddie had done. Only Chip and Electra had known something was wrong.

"Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Dark as the night! Black Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Disruptive as thunder! Gold Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Courage is our magic!" Chip called to Flytrap confidently.

"And your downfall!" Vida nodded as she pointed to the monster.

"No problem!" Flytrap yelled back in response, using his vines to wrap around each ranger.

"So getting tired of this!" Electra grunted as she struggled against the vines wrapped tightly around her.

"Let me try some magic!" Vida seemed to disappear in a flash of light, and the vines that held her dropped to the ground. The pink ranger, now much smaller, flew through the air. "Magi Staff!" she returned to her normal size and destroyed the monster's vines.

"Magi Staff, crossbow mode!" Chip pointed it at Flytrap. "Fire!" he blasted the monster, throwing him back.

"Nice one Chip!" Vida complimented the yellow ranger, and all of them leapt into the air. "Tornado time!" all of them started spinning as they stood around Flytrap. He flew into the air, and landed heavily nearby. Angry as he stood up, Flytrap fired another attack, only for it to ricochet off a large shield in Vincent's hand that had their symbol on it, and hit the monster instead.

"Where'd you get that?" Xander asked as he looked around at Vincent.

"Unlocked it back when I lost my animal spirit. Thought now was as good a time as any to use it," Vincent shrugged, before Flytrap got back up.

"Shut your traps!" he roared, and began growing.

"Let's even this out," Chip called, and they cast the spell to transform into their Megazord form.

"Let's get him!" Madison called, and looked to her sister. "You alright sis?" she asked Vida, who nodded.

"Never been better!" Vida called, posing again.

"Liking the new pose V! Titan sabre!"

"TITAN SABRE!" the others followed Chip and Vida's lead.

"Try and stop these!" Flytrap shot more vines at them, only for the Rangers to create more swords that cut through each one and slammed into him. The sun began to rise, and the agonising cries of Flytrap's victims reached the Rangers.

"Oh crap, we're running out of time!" Electra realised with a growl.

"We have to break the spell, fast!" Chip yelled.

"Ready!" Nick yelled, and they lifted their Magi Staffs.

"Ancient Power! Mystic Spell Seal!"

"Attack!" Flytrap yelled, running at them, only for the Rangers to hit him with their Spell Seal. He cried out, staggering back.

"You're planted!" Nick yelled as Flytrap exploded.

The sun completely rose, and the writhing civilians stopped screaming as the spell was broken. They looked around confused, unaware that they were being watched from above. Nick stepped away from the balcony, and cheered.

"Chip saved the day, I got my sister back, and Briarwood's teens are back to normal," Madison summed the day up as the others grinned.

"I'd say it was a good day...and night," Electra smiled. "And Vida looks healthy again," the others laughed as the colour had returned to Vida's face. Electra looked to her brother, and her smile dropped a little as she noticed that his smile wasn't as big as normal. He caught her eye and forced his smile to widen, taking Vida's hand as they headed away from the balcony.

1-2-3-4-5

As the Rangers worked away in Rock Porium, Vida rocked out behind the decks, and Electra watched, finding that she still felt uneasy. However, she dismissed it as being tired and used to Vida's strange behaviour, believing that it would fade after a good night's sleep.

Vida leapt off the little platform as Leelee laughed, seeming to be getting on a little better with the pink ranger after they went to the DJ concert. The two danced, and Electra shook her head, going back to her book.

"Hey, why don't you join us?" Leelee pushed the book down so Electra couldn't read it. "You're always reading something. Come have some fun," she grabbed Electra's wrist, but the black ranger yanked away quickly.

"Sorry, I don't dance," she told Leelee as she looked a little startled. Electra wasn't sure what had caused such an extreme reaction to Leelee touching her either. She wasn't sure if it was the odd sensation she got from sensing the slight haze to her animal spirit, or something else.

"So Nick, Vincent, now that you know vampires do exist, how about joining the Count V club?" Chip suggested, lifting up a bag to show the red ranger.

"Not interested," Nick replied.

"We already fight all other kinds of monsters, I don't really feel like joining a group that would require me to fight more," Vincent laughed lightly, his eyes on Vida as she danced.

"Wait, before you make a hasty decision, let me show you what your $200 gets you!" Chip opened the bag. "Three cloves of garlic, 'how to spot a vampire' handbook, mirror, vampire chalk, vial of-"

"Wait," Nick stopped him raising a hand as his curiosity took over. "_Vampire _chalk?" he stared at the yellow ranger.

"No Vampire Hunter worth his wooden stake goes anywhere without it!" Chip exclaimed. "Just draw a circle around the vampire, and they cannot cross the line," Chip started to draw a circle around Vida as she danced.

"What astounds me is that you paid $200 for this," Vincent commented as he raised an eyebrow.

"What is he doing?" Madison asked as she walked over.

"Showing how vampire chalk works..." the three started to laugh as Leelee leapt back from Chip.

"Sorry, these are $300 boots! Draw your chalk near someone else's feet," she snapped at the yellow ranger, making Vida laugh.

"So if Vida was a vampire, she couldn't cross that line," Nick summed up as Chip got back up. He nodded, and Vincent folded his arms.

"But uh, Chip, Vida's not a vampire anymore," he commented as Nick and Madison dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Hey V!" Xander called from the counter, phone in hand. "We got any Coltrane on CD?" he asked.

"Lemme check!" Vida stopped dancing and went to check the CDs, only for a forcefield to appear around her. She cried out as it shocked her, and Vincent's eyes widened as Chip stared at it. Electra spun around, her eyes wide as Nick and Madison turned around as well, and Xander hung up instantly. Her eyes wide, Vida tried to step out again, but was shocked by the forcefield again.

"Uh..V...? Are you alright?" Chip asked slowly, only for Vida to raise her head and snarl at them, her eyes glowing red as fangs jutted out.

"Oh, this is way too familiar...so much for bed..." Electra groaned as they stared at the pink ranger in horror.

**I finally forced myself to write, so here's another chapter. Unfortunately I won't be updating till next week, I've got stuff on over the weekend and then house viewings on Monday and Tuesday!**

**I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you think!**


	8. Stranger Within Part 2

Chapter 8: Stranger Within Part 2

The Power Rangers stood in Rootcore with Udonna and Claire as Vida stood inside a circle of chalk that stopped her from escaping. After it was discovered that she was still a vampire, they had been forced to take her back to their base, which had taken a lot of effort. Electra was sporting a bloody nose, and the rest of the rangers were bruised all over.

"Guys...I know you think you need to do this...but I'm alright," Vida insisted as she looked at them. Her complexion, which had initially returned to normal, had become deathly pale again. "Please let me out," she pleaded at them with wide eyes.

"We're gonna help you V, I promise," Chip told her firmly.

"Vincent...please," Vida turned her gaze to her boyfriend, who just turned his head, hating himself as he did so.

"Maybe, we should let her out," Claire suggested, feeling sorry for Vida. The pink ranger snarled and lunged for her, making Vincent react quickly, grabbing the apprentice and pulling her back as Nick jumped backwards. "And...maybe we shouldn't," Claire whimpered as she hid behind the gold ranger.

"If Flytrap was destroyed...Vida should be fine," Madison commented as they walked away from Vida. "She must be under the spell of another vampire," she realised.

"I don't think she was ever under Flytrap's spell," they looked at Electra as she spoke. "Ever since it happened, I've been seriously uneasy around Vida," the black ranger admitted. "Like, I'm in serious danger when she's around. That didn't stop, even after we stopped Flytrap. I thought I was just being a little overcautious..." she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nick frowned at her.

"Because I didn't want to worry you guys. Before, I wasn't sure what it was, and even if I told you, you guys would have just thought I was being stupid," Electra responded, looking over at Vida as she watched them.

"What if it's Necrolai?" Chip asked suddenly.

"Koragg would know that," Xander nodded, and Chip glanced to Nick quickly.

"Nick. Koragg seems to be able to contact you whenever he likes," Chip stated, looking thoughtful. "Have you ever tried to contact him?" he asked curiously.

"No," Nick shook his head with a frown, but it disappeared as he thought about it. "But I can try," Nick turned away from them, closing his eyes and putting his hands to his head, but nothing happened. "I guess it doesn't work like-" he let out a cry as pain flooded his head again like it was being split open. "Next time Chip...you can call him yourself," Nick grumbled as he breathed heavily. "He's in the glen."

"Will you go after Koragg?" Udonna asked fearfully. "There's something I need to do," Udonna walked off.

"Who'll look after V?" Madison asked, glancing to her sister.

"I will!" Claire volunteered with a smile.

"Claire, she'll try everything and anything to get you to release her," Xander warned, and Claire looked around at Vida again. "Are you sure you're up for it?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I'll stay too," Electra pulled the tissue from her nose, which had dried blood around the edges. "With these weird feelings I get, I'll make sure she doesn't let her go," she told the others, who nodded and turned around, before pausing.

"Where's Chip?" Nick realised that the yellow ranger was missing.

"Oh that idiot," Vincent growled, and they ran off to find Chip and talk to Koragg.

1-2-3-4-5

As Nick, Xander, Vincent and Madison went off to find out what was going on with Vida, Electra sat on the railings watching Vida while Claire swept.

"So how's the invisibility spell coming along?" Electra asked the apprentice as she looked down at her. Claire blushed as she looked up from her work.

"Not too great. I'm not very good with spells...or potions...or any kind of magic," she admitted, looking away.

"Hey, you'll get there. Just stick with it," Electra told her with a smile.

"Easy for you to say, you're really good with magic," Claire replied, not looking too confident. Electra slipped off the railings and put a hand on her shoulder.

"When you've been a Ranger as long as I have, you grasp this kinda stuff a lot easier. I've struggled a lot in the past. Hell, it took me a year to get the basics of martial arts down," Electra admitted, and Claire stared at her in surprise. "It took three years and a lot of bruises to master the Swoop technique, not to mention my own Jackal technique and everything else I learned in Pai Zhuq," Electra remembered the countless failures she had when learning how to fight. It took dropping everything else to master what she knew now. "My dad is a motocross racer, pretty famous apparently, so I've been on bikes since I was little, which is why I'm pretty decent on a bike now, even after a couple of years without racing. Of course, being a ranger and using a bike helped keep me in shape," Claire smiled as Electra told her all this. "What I'm trying to tell you, is that you can't give up. You're going to be an amazing sorceress one day, and you're going to help me pull lots of delightful pranks on Xander," Claire's eyes widened.

"Pr-pranks? Oh no, I couldn't, with my skill-"

"Give yourself some credit," Electra laughed as Claire panicked. "If you keep putting your heart into learning like you are now, you'll succeed," she told the blonde, who smiled.

"Thanks Electra," there was a little more confidence in Claire's voice as she thanked Electra, who grinned back. They both looked around as Vida cried out.

"Claire...please help me...I feel really sick..." Vida groaned. "I mean...urgh..." Vida collapsed inside the circle, and Claire dropped her broom, running up to the circle as Electra followed. The two knelt beside the circle, and Claire glanced to Electra fearfully, and found her expression completely flat. She swallowed, and found herself wishing that she could maintain that level of control of her emotions too.

1-2-3-4-5

Returning from what could only be described as an utterly confusing battle with Koragg, the five Rangers rushed into Rootcore to check on Vida.

"Oh no, look," Madison gestured to the circle, and found Claire standing sheepishly in the middle.

"I knew it!" Xander groaned as they ran up to her.

"I'm so sorry...but she got really sick, and then she fainted, so I-"

"No need to explain Claire," Nick sighed as all of them looked frustrated. "Where the heck is Electra?" they looked around for the black ranger.

"I just thought that what if something really bad happens? I would never forgive myself. So I just erased a little bit of the circle and...she got out," Claire explained sadly, and they sighed.

"Well...at least she didn't bite you," Chip smiled. "She didn't bite you, did she?" his smile dropped.

"Well...no..." Claire lifted her hair to reveal no marks. "But she put me in the circle and took Electra with her," their eyes widened. "Please let me out, you need to find them," she pleaded, and Xander removed some of the circle so Claire could walk out. "Thanks, uh...I better find Udonna," Claire ran off.

"I still say that anyone with half a brain wouldn't have been tricked," Xander commented.

"Oh, hi guys, I didn't hear you come in," they all spun around to see Claire and Electra walking back in. "Gosh, that Vida is a tricky one! She tried to convince me she got sick, and then Electra got another nosebleed and needed to go out, but I-" she stopped abruptly as she realised that Vida was gone.

"You have got to be kidding me," Electra looked at the still confused Rangers.

"What was that half-brained theory of yours again?" Madison sighed as they groaned in frustration.

"You idiots! How could you let her out?!" Electra yelled at them, and was forced to cover her nose again as blood started dripping again.

"We thought she was Claire!" Xander defended.

"If she was Claire, then the chalk wouldn't have worked on her, would it?!" Electra shouted back, and the five groaned even more as they realised that this was true.

1-2-3-4-5

Still fuming, Electra scanned through every book she could to try and find something on Vampires.

"What if we find Necrolai before Vida?" Madison spoke up, looking to the others. "How do we destroy her?" she brought up a good point. As one of the higher ups in the underworld, the Rangers had always struggled to fight the vampire. "The Flytrap was one thing..."

"Chip's book!" Xander realised. "It's gotta have a chapter on destroying vampires," he pointed to the book, and Madison reached for it before Chip spoke.

"Chapter 13," they looked at him. "Basically it's the old 'stake in heart' scenario, unless we're dealing with the queen of the vampires..."

"And what does it say about destroying them?" Nick asked.

"It says you can't," Chip replied weakly.

"Oh, fantastic!" Vincent exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air, knocking the book out of Electra's hands. "Just what we bloody need! We _can't _kill Necrolai! What the heck is the point of any of this then? We're not going to get the answer in any of these books, so why are you still reading?" Vincent demanded of Electra, who clenched her fists.

"You give up and I will smack you so hard," she warned him in a cold voice.

"Who said I was giving up!" Vincent demanded, glaring back at him. "You're the one who was supposed to be watching her! We don't all have your super fancy magical powers that make you so _perfect_! We can't all tell when someone's secretly evil or possessed by a vampire!" he yelled angrily, and Electra got up, going to attack him, before Xander grabbed her from behind and Nick caught Vincent as he went to retaliate.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Nick yelled as Vincent struggled in his grip. Electra just glared back at Vincent, fed up with his mood.

"Wait a second, the Xenotome!" Xander realised. "That tells us everything, what we need to know, when we need to know it. We need to know it now," Xander released Electra, and after a moment to ensure Vincent wouldn't go on the attack, Nick let him go, and they all ran up to the book.

"Xenotome, how do we destroy the Queen of the Vampires?" Chip asked, and much to their relief, writing appeared on the blank page in front of them. "Dawn Crystal...that must be the only way to defeat Necrolai..." Chip realised. "It says how to make one...but it takes time, and ingredients I don't know if we can get," Chip looked up as his confidence began to fade.

"You can't," Udonna's voice echoed around Rootcore as she returned. "But I did," she ran up the stairs, carrying a basket of ingredients. "We must hurry, there's not much time. We must make the Crystal before..."

"Before what?" Madison's voice shook a little. "Before it's too late, is that what you were going to say?" she demanded of their mentor. Udonna turned around to face them, her expression grave.

"Make no mistake rangers, we are in danger of losing one of our own," she warned them, and Madison closed her eyes. Nick moved over to her, and took her hand.

"That's not going to happen," he promised her, before walking over to Udonna as a single tear slipped down Madison's face. "Udonna. You make the Dawn Crystal, we'll find Vida," Nick told her, and she nodded.

"No!" they all looked around at Chip. "I'm staying to make the Dawn Crystal. I owe Vida that much," Vincent's eyes widened as it finally sank in. Chip liked Vida. His fists clenched angrily, and he stormed off to find Vida. The others looked to each other, before running off to find Vida as well.

1-2-3-4-5

"Vida!"

"V!"

"Sis! Where is she?" the five Rangers flew on their Mystic Racers through the forest looking for Vida, but there was no sign of her. "She has to be somewhere! I'm not giving up!" Madison yelled to the others.

"No-one is Maddie, no-one is!" Nick called back as they continued to fly, reaching the city and looking around. Night turned into day, yet there was still no sign of Vida.

Forced to return to Rock Porium, Electra promised to keep searching around town. She ran through the streets, calling out for Vida relentlessly.

"Well at least being a Ranger built up my endurance," Electra commented as she looked around. "Vida! Come on, where are you?" she yelled, looking around for any sign of the pink ranger. "Dammit. I will find you..." she muttered as she turned a corner.

"Yes, you will," Electra skidded to a stop as Vida stood nearby, smirking. Her complexion had returned to normal, and if it wasn't for the overwhelming sense of danger that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, Electra would have believed that she was back to normal. "You see, you're a problem for convincing the others that I'm back to normal. You're unusually perceptive. Maybe it's those weird powers you have," Vida shrugged as she walked closer, and Electra fell into a fighting position.

"Maybe it's the fact that you're a major creep when you're a vampire," she retorted. "We're going to break this curse Vida," Electra told her, but Vida's smirk just widened.

"What curse? I beat Necrolai by myself, and broke the curse," Vida told her earnestly, and it was almost a believable performance, if it weren't for the wide smirk across her face. "After all, I can walk in bright sunlight now, see?" she gestured, but Electra just narrowed her eyes. "You see? That perception is a problem. If I can take you out, then I'll have no problem convincing the others," Vida smirked, and ran at her. Electra blocked her kick, but a tremor of pain ran down her arm.

"You won't convince Chip," Electra warned her. "He cares enough to be able to tell when something is wrong, even if it sounds impossible to others, he'll believe it," Vida just scoffed, and Electra dodged her next attack. The two fought at a ridiculously fast pace, dodging and attacking when they could. Electra back-flipped and caught Vida with a strong kick, before Vida slammed her boot into Electra's shoulder. The black ranger resisted crying out as pain throbbed angrily where Vida's boot had caught her.

"You're just a human Electra," Vida breathed. "I'm a Vampire. I'm superior in every way," she told Electra, who ran at her again. She managed to trip Vida, but as soon as she hit the ground, she was back on her feet, catching Electra's arm. She slammed her into a wall, hard, and kicked her so she hit another wall. Electra's legs buckled and she hit the ground, but when Vida laughed, she forced herself up and tackled Vida, who easily flipped her and tossed her back into the wall. This time when she fell to the ground, Electra didn't get up. "Pathetic. Later," Vida walked off, waving over her shoulder.

"No...dammit..." Electra groaned, attempting to push herself back up, but she fell back down, and her vision faded quickly.

1-2-3-4-5

"Maybe she left town...maybe she was taken, maybe she-"

"We'll find her Maddie," Nick put an arm around the distraught blue ranger as Xander and Vincent exchanged worried glances. "I promise," he whispered, before a door swung open.

"Find who," they all looked up quickly and stared at Vida in shock as she grinned at them.

"Vida!" Madison ran over to her sister and almost tackled her in a hug.

"Sis, I'm fine," Vida laughed, managing to prize her sister off her. "Calm down, I'm fine. I had quite a night," she told them as the three male Rangers walked over, looking relieved. "But I'm ok," Vida smiled, and was pulled into another hug.

1-2-3-4-5

"Electra!" the black ranger heard a familiar voice through the haze, and she let out a soft moan. "You picked a pretty weird place to sleep dude, get up," when she realised that it wasn't a dream, Electra opened her eyes and rolled over, looking up to find Blake and Tori staring down at her.

"Blake? Tori? What are you guys doing-crap! Vida! Double – no, triple crap!" she was on her feet quickly, and the two ex-rangers caught her arms quickly as she made to run away.

"Electra, calm down! What's going on? What happened to you?" Tori asked quickly, struggling to keep hold of the black ranger's arm.

"Who's Vida?" Blake asked with a frown.

"She's still a Vampire! They don't realise! I need to tell the others! Dammit let me go!" Electra struggled, before they managed to pull her back. There was a loud slap, and Electra stopped struggling as the side of her face stung.

"Ok, you want to try that again with less yelling?" Tori demanded, her hand stinging a little.

"What...what are you guys doing in Briarwood?" Electra blinked several times as she looked at them. "And _Jesus_ Tori, that hurt!" she exclaimed, putting a hand to her cheek as Blake couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm in town for a race, and I invited Tori to come along and watch, and we figured we'd come see you," Blake explained. "Remind me never to get on your bad side," he told Tori, who smiled back.

"Like when you hurt Cam and kidnapped Sensei and tried to kill us?" Electra questioned, and Blake rolled his eyes.

"That was one time! We were tricked!" he exclaimed. "Anyway, now is so not the time for that. What happened to you? Who's Vida and what is this about vampires?" Blake demanded, and Electra groaned.

"Udonna is so going to kill me for this, but there's no time," she ran a hand through her hair. "Come with me, I'll explain on the way. My friends and my brother are in major trouble," the couple exchanged a look, but followed Electra as she started running.

"So what is going on?" Tori called as they ran towards the forest. "And why are we going into the really creepy forest?" she asked.

"You've heard about all the crazy monster attacks going on, right?" Electra called, and they nodded. "There was an earthquake, and the seal on the underworld was broken, so now the monsters that were trapped there are escaping and trying to destroy Briarwood. Pretty much, there's a way into another realm, a magical realm, through the forest, and this woman called Udonna got me, my brother, and five others to enter, and gave us powers to fight these monsters. We're the Mystic Force Power Rangers," she told them, and Blake started laughing.

"Again? You're insane dude!" Tori couldn't help but smile either. "So what colour are you this time?" Blake asked, smirking.

"Black, jackass," Electra glared at him over her shoulder. "But anyway, this Vampire we've been fighting, Necrolai, she's possessed one of the Rangers and she took me out to stop me from revealing that she's still a vampire to the others," she called. They ran through the forest, finally reaching Rootcore.

"Is that a dragon head?!" Blake demanded as it started to open.

"Not now Blakie!" Electra called, running inside, just in time to see Chip knock apples out of the Ranger's hands.

"I'm telling you! This is not Vida!" he insisted.

"Chip!" Madison sighed. "Now you've gone and ruined perfectly good apples," she leaned down to pick it up.

"Stop! He's telling the truth!" Electra called out, and the spun around, before the apples started to smoke and melted.

"She's gone!" Nick realised that Vida had disappeared again.

"Dammit," Vincent growled, and spun around to survey his sister. "Where the _hell _have you been? And what are they doing here?!" he demanded, looking at Blake and Tori as they looked around.

"Your girlfriend beat the crap out of me so I couldn't let you guys know that she's still a damn vampire, genius!" Electra snapped. "They found me, and wouldn't let me leave without an explanation. They've been Rangers long enough to know when someone's running off to fight monsters."

"You were Rangers before?" Xander asked, his eyes on Tori.

"_Focus_!" Electra yelled. "We need to stop Vida already!" she told him, running over. She grabbed his ear and yanked him out of Rootcore as the green Ranger yelled in protest.

"There's always one she torments," Tori commented as she folded her arms, watching as the others followed them out.

1-2-3-4-5

Chasing Vida through Briarwood, they finally caught up with her.

"Hold it right there!" Nick yelled, and Vida finally slowed to a stop. "There's nowhere else to run," he told her, and she turned to glare at him.

"You are so right," she told him, before Necrolai appeared behind her, laughing as she put a hand on Vida's head, stroking her hair.

"Good servant. _Very _good servant," Necrolai praised her. "Now get them!" she ordered with a bark, and Vida looked back to the Rangers.

"Yes mistress," she agreed, and morphed into her pink suit.

"No! Vida!" Madison pleaded, but Vida just drew her Magi Staff and ran at them.

"Don't hurt her. I'm going after Necrolai," Chip told the others, and ran after Necrolai, morphing into his yellow suit and jumping over Vida's head. As she went to follow him, the other five grabbed Vida, only to be thrown off.

"We're getting really hurt taking it easy on her," Nick groaned.

"It's gonna get worse if we don't morph," Vincent nodded, before Vida attacked them and threw them over the railings, forcing them to morph before they got hurt. They crashed to the ground and got back up, only for Vida to knock them back down.

"Time for a rematch," Electra ran at her again and they started to fight, before she caught Electra across the stomach with her Magi Staff. Vida then punched Vincent and tossed him to the ground, kicked Nick in the chest and hit both Madison and Xander with her Staff, before suddenly leaping back up to fight Chip.

"Come on, we gotta get back up there," Nick groaned, and they hurried back up to where Chip and Vida were fighting. When they reached them, they were horrified to see Chip aiming his crossbow at Vida.

"No! Chip don't!" Vincent yelled.

"You can't! It's Vida!"

"Don't do it Chip!" Madison pleaded.

"Put it down, now!"

"I believe in you V...FIRE!" Chip fired the Dawn Crystal at Vida, who leapt out of the way at the last second, so the Crystal hit Necrolai instead, taking everyone by surprise. "V is for victory!" Chip called, pulling Vida's pose. "Vida showed me her sign. Even though she said she wasn't with us any more, I knew she was," the yellow Ranger smirked.

"You tricked me, Pink Witch!" Necrolai snarled, snapping her fingers. Vida cried out in pain as shocks ran through her body, forcing her to demorph.

"You have to stop her!" Vida pleaded, looking over to the Rangers.

"You got it," Chip nodded. "Do it for V guys!" the others nodded and raised their Magi Staffs.

"MAGI STAFFS, FULL POWER!" they started to spin.

"Bite this Necrolai!" Chip threw the intense power at Necrolai, and it slammed into her, making her cry out.

"This can't be happening..." Necrolai screamed, and exploded, and the Rangers ran over to Vida, who already looked much better. They all cheered, before the ground shook and nearly knocked them all over.

"You seven wizards have shown great power and cunning to defeat Necrolai," Koragg appeared above them in his much larger form. "This is what I have waited for," he told them, and called on Catastros, forming his Megazord.

"Can't we do this another time?" Vincent groaned, exhausted from several days and nights of fighting with little rest.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" Vida morphed again, already back to full strength. The seven then called on their Titan forms, and formed their own Megazord, summoning their sabre.

"Let's show him!" Nick called as the two Megazords faced each other.

"ANCIENT POWER, MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" the Megazord drew their Spell Seal as Koragg did the same with his dark magic, and the two clashed, knocking the Megazord down.

"He's stronger than we are!" Madison yelled. "Guys, what are we going to do?" she asked fearfully.

"I say we fight back, we don't give up!" Chip called to her from beside Vincent.

"Chip's right! Don't give up!" Vida agreed. "We never give up!"

"Count me in!"

"We're way too stubborn for that!" Electra laughed in agreement.

"One for all!" Nick called.

"And all for one!" Chip called as he moved to the front. A bright light shone down on them, and they looked up, raising their Magi Staffs. "What's going on?"

"Your belief in me has given us a new spell!" Vida explained happily.

"Nice!" Chip grinned, nodding happily.

"Battle me!" Koragg demanded.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" they summoned their wings, taking the knight by surprise.

"You have new magic?!" he demanded angrily.

"TITAN MEGAZORD, TAKE FLIGHT!" they flew into the air, passing through a spell seal. "SPIRITS OF THE ANCIENT TITANS! TITANS ATTACK!" they flew back down at Koragg, striking him with the attack. He crashed to the ground, and they cheered, but their victory was short lived as he got back to his feet.

"You have _got _to be kidding me," Electra put her hands to her helmet.

"Impressive. You grow more powerful by the day," Koragg commented. "But so do I! Our next battle will have a different outcome!" Koragg disappeared through another spell seal, allowing the Rangers to continue celebrating their latest victory.

1-2-3-4-5

"I really can't believe you're a Ranger again," Blake was still laughing as they sat in Rock Porium again.

"It's not that hard to believe. The last four times I've moved, I've become a Ranger. I would have thought the magic bit would be harder to believe," Electra shrugged, resting her chin in her hand as she watched the other Rangers. "Sorry for throwing you in the deep end with all this though. And for losing it earlier," she apologised with a small laugh.

"I'm sorry for slapping you," Tori smiled back, and Blake laughed again as he thought about it. As the three got caught up, Vincent watched as Vida lied to Leelee about what had happened before. Leelee all but ran out of the shop, making the others laugh, before Vida walked over to Vincent, smiling.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked, and Vincent glanced at Chip before sighing.

"I need to talk to you...in private," Vida's smile dropped, and Vincent pulled her into the office, shutting the door. "I'm sorry V..." he turned to her as she watched him silently, her brown eyes wide. "I didn't even notice that something was wrong with you. I mean, I'm supposed to be your boyfriend, but I didn't notice anything!" he ran his hands through his hair.

"Vincent, it's ok," Vida told him. "Nick, and Xander didn't realise, and neither did Maddie!" she reminded him, but Vincent shook his head.

"But Chip did," he spoke softly, and Vida froze. "I guess, I didn't want to see it before, but this last battle has forced me to. I'm sorry V, but you don't like me that way...not as much," Vida stared at him, at a complete loss for what to say. "I can't be with you. Not as your boyfriend," he stood in front of Vida, looking down at the stunned girl.

"I...I'm sorry Vincent..." Vida finally looked away. "You're right. I guess what we had was just a fleeting thing," she muttered.

"Story of my life," she was surprised when he chuckled. "Just be more honest with your feelings, ok?" Vincent kissed her cheek, and sighed before leaving the office. Vida sat down heavily on the desk, and Madison walked in.

"Are you ok?" she glanced back out at Vincent, and back at her sister. Vida just shook her head, and Madison sighed. "Come on, let's go home," she pulled her sister up, and led her out of the office. She shot Vincent a glare, and pulled Vida out of the office.

"What happened?" Chip asked, noticing the glare, and both Vincent and Vida's strange behaviour.

"I ended things with Vida. Neither of us felt the same way, it was wrong to keep pushing it," Vincent sighed again, and looked up at the surprised yellow ranger. "I'm sorry, Chip. I should have realised. I'm gonna head home. Later guys!" he called to Xander, Nick, Electra, Tori and Blake, heading out as Chip looked confused.

"Realised what?" Chip muttered, and jumped when a hand clapped him on the back.

"You'll admit it when you're ready. Just don't wait too long. My brother made a pretty big sacrifice here. You mess up, I'll end you," Electra smiled pleasantly at the now terrified Ranger.

"Meddling again?" Tori asked as she and Blake walked over.

"Me? Meddle?" Electra looked affronted. "Come on, let's go," she laughed, waving to Xander and Nick. She smiled at Chip once more before leaving Rock Porium as Blake took Tori's hand, and they followed.

"Guys...I'm scared," Chip gulped, looking around at the red and green Rangers. They just shrugged and walked off, leaving Chip to think over both Vincent and Electra's words.

**Well it's definitely been a while, I'm sorry there was such a gap between a two parter! Had a lot to do over the last couple of weeks, and the heat wave we had over here kinda destroyed my motivation! Though having a Jungle Fury marathon has definitely helped!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! I'll be posting another oneshot at some point tonight, assuming I'm not lying on the ground sobbing from the new Thor 2 trailer.**

**Let me know what you think!**


	9. Petrified Xander

Chapter 9: Petrified Xander

It was another beautiful day in Briarwood and as usual, the staff of Rock Porium were hard at work. Soft music played for a change as Vincent played his guitar, in a completely different world as he played. Chip walked past him, staring at the piece of paper that held the secret of the Fireheart.

"Hey Chip, any luck with you know what?" Vida called over to the yellow Ranger.

"Nah..." he shook his head, still staring at it.

"Hah! I've outsold you by twelve dollars and 50 cents. I win the bet. You, owe me lunch," she told Xander, who was sorting records with his back to them.

"Not so fast, Xander the Great still has four minutes to go!" Xander told her confidently. Electra walked in, her helmet in hand, humming to herself.

"Hey Electra," Vida greeted her, and Electra smiled back.

"Hey," she walked over. "For once I'm here as a customer. Amara's birthday is coming up and-" there was a loud twang as Vincent looked up. "Vincent forgot. Shocker," she grinned, and Xander spun around.

"Good afternoon Electra, may I be of service?" Xander shoved Vida out of the way, and when Electra looked at him, she jumped, nearly dropping her helmet.

"Bloody hell Xander!" she started laughing. "You growing an extra nose or something there?" she put a hand to mouth as she doubled over laughing.

"Extra nose? What are you talking about?" Xander raised an eyebrow at her. Still laughing, Electra held up her helmet so he could see his reflection in it. Xander's eyes widened in utter horror as he saw the massive spot on the tip of his nose.

"Whoa!" he pushed past Vida to stare in the mirror as Vida and Chip started to laugh too.

"Oh, Xander the Great...big pimple!" Vida mocked. Xander couldn't tear his eyes away from his reflection as Vincent walked over, and burst out laughing as well.

"It totally ruins my perfect profile..." Xander whispered. "This zit really is like having an extra nose!" he muttered in horror.

"Told you," Electra giggled, unable to stop laughing.

"That's it!" they stopped as Chip yelled out. "Maybe the Scroll to the Fireheart is like 2 halves of the same face! Minus the zit of course!" they all hushed Chip as Leelee walked by, her eyes darting to them for a split moment.

"YES!" a voice yelled from the office. "SUCCESS!" Toby burst out of his office, carrying a strange tube in his hand. "I finished this entire crypto-magnetic puzzle, in just under 40 minutes," he announced as he gestured to it. "I should work for the CIA," Toby smiled triumphantly. "Or the FBI...or better still! The Power Rangers!" he announced, making all of them except Electra freeze. "What did I say?" he frowned.

"I reckon the CIA or the FBI would snatch you up before the Power Rangers could Toby," Electra walked past, not even blinking.

"You should give them a call," Vida nodded.

"A call! I should give them a call!" Toby ran back into his office, and they sighed.

"It's lucky he's not more perceptive with people," Electra taunted, and they glared at her as she smirked back.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers gathered at Rootcore so that Chip could explain his findings to Madison, Nick and Udonna. While Chip explained how he had come to realise what the scroll was, Xander stared in a mirror, still unable to look away from his pimple.

"While Xander was staring at himself, and I was staring at Xander, the answer was staring at me," Chip ran and snatched the mirror from the vain green ranger, and brought it over to the scroll. He held the mirror beside the scroll, and grinned. "What mountain does that look like?" he asked as they stared at it in surprise.

"Mount Fuego!" they realised, and congratulated the surprisingly clever yellow Ranger. Claire walked over, and her eyes widened in surprise as the dying flowers she had been tending to came back to life.

"It's working! Look, I finally did something right!" Claire exclaimed happily to Xander.

"What did you do?" he asked, confused.

"It's a potion I concocted to make sad, dull looking flowers become perfectly gorgeous!" happy with the result, Claire ran off to tell Udonna.

"Right, let's go," Nick decided, looking to the others. "The Fireheart is waiting, we'll have to split up to cover that much territory," he told them, leading the Rangers out of Rootcore.

1-2-3-4-5

While Nick, Madison, Chip and Vincent went one way, Electra went with Vida and Xander, as they knew that Electra was one of the few people who could control Xander, even just a little. They climbed up the mountain in silence, looking around for any sign of the Fireheart.

"V! Electra! Come quick!" Xander's yell made the two start running up the hill.

"What's wrong?" Electra looked around for any problems as she reached Xander.

"Did you find it?" Vida asked.

"What? Oh, no, look," he turned his head to the side. "My perfect profile has been restored! I'm back! Xander's back," he grinned to the two.

"You may have lost one nose but I am close to breaking the one you have left," Electra growled, putting a hand to his face and shoving him back. She and Vida started walking again, before Vida stopped.

"Whoa, look at that!" she pointed up at a cave, when something shone in the light. They ran up to it, and found the symbol attached to the rock.

"That's definitely the symbol," Xander nodded. They walked into the cave, looking around.

"Be ready for anything," Vida warned as she took the lead, looking around. The three walked inside, before Vida's foot hit something and a panel opened above.

"Whoa, watch out!" Xander yelled, diving out of the way. Electra instinctively teleported out of the way as well, leaving Vida to bear the brunt of the green goo that hit her right in the face.

"Cave slime..." she groaned as Electra tried not to laugh. "Nasty..."

"Look," Xander noticed two doors, and they walked over to them. "'Fireheart is close at hand. Those who find it, shall rule the land. But take good care, for there is no clue. Is it door number one? Or door number two?'" Xander read the writing on the wall. "What do you think we should-V!" he yelled as Vida yanked open door number one to reveal a chest.

"Woman's intuition?" Electra laughed as she looked to the slime covered pink ranger.

"That's got to be it," Vida grinned.

"You always were terribly lucky," Xander commented.

"Come on, let's get it outside already. I hate caves," Electra determined, reaching for the chest.

"Hold up, I wanna see what's behind door number two," before they could stop him, he opened the door and immediately shut it again as a loud roar echoed. "I, on the other hand, am not so lucky," Xander determined.

"What was Nick saying about me being able to control him?" Electra wondered aloud. The door fell over, and a monster was revealed.

"Alright, let's Ranger up and show him whose boss," Xander called, and moments later all three, already morphed, were thrown out of the cave. "Ok...he's boss," he looked to the two female Rangers.

"Y'think?!" they dove out of the way of the monster and started fighting him off. Xander took a hard hit and crashed to the ground, holding his chest.

"Alright, try a little darkness!" Electra drew her Magi Staff and held it out. Darkness flew from it, and surrounded the monster, destroying it.

"Power down," all three demorphed, and Vida helped Xander up. "Let's get the Fireheart," Vida told him, and ran back into the cave with Electra.

1-2-3-4-5

The three took it in turns to carry the chest back down the mountain, where they were met by the other Rangers.

"Hey, we heard an explosion," Nick looked concerned as they reached them.

"Xander's fault. We had it covered," Electra brushed it off, and they all looked down at the chest. Madison crouched beside it, and Vida and Chip attempted to yank it open, with no success.

"Look at this," Madison slapped their hands away, and pulled a scroll away, only for numbers to appear.

"It's counting down," Vida commented as Madison passed the scroll to Chip.

"'This ancient puzzle is your task at hand, solve it quickly to receive what's grand. But if you fail this timely chore, the Fireheart will be no more.'," he looked up at the others, who groaned. "Great...another riddle," Chip complained, only for an explosion to burst up, knocking them all off their feet.

"Hand over the chest!" Hidiacs appeared from all around.

"Let's Ranger up," Nick called, and they drew their morphers. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

They started fighting off the Hidiacs quickly, and Vincent drew his Magi Staff.

"Magi Staff, Hammer Mode!" he switched his staff into a hammer shape and attacked, slamming it into any Hidiacs that got too close. He flipped forwards and kicked back another Hidiac, and hurled his hammer at one. When it ricocheted, Vincent caught it and hit one that was attacking from behind.

Electra spun in a circle, her boot connecting with a Hidiac's head. It went flying, and she righted herself, catching another with a punch. Using her Magi Staff, she took out another three, and jumped back, grinning under her helmet as she slammed her staff into another. Before long, the Hidiacs were gone.

1-2-3-4-5

"Urgh...it's still counting down," Madison groaned as she stared at it.

"Sorry guys," Chip sighed, pacing around the chest. "I've never seen a puzzle like this...I don't even know where to begin..." he shrugged.

"What about you Electra? You've seen some weird things," Vida glanced to Electra, who shook her head.

"I specialise in monsters and crime fighting. Not puzzles," she replied, her arms folded.

"None of us do. And we've already lost half an hour," Madison complained as she stood up.

"You've still got leaves in your hair from the battle," Nick walked over to Xander and started pulling a shoot out of Xander's hair, only for the green ranger to yell in pain. "Whoa..." Nick stared at him.

"It's nothing...really," Xander turned away, before sighing. "I'm just having...a little issue," he held out his arms and Electra clamped her hands over her mouth.

"A _little _issue?!" Vincent stared at his bark covered arms. "You're turning into a tree!" they all started laughing.

"This is funny to you guys?" Xander looked annoyed as they couldn't stop laughing. Madison shook her head quickly, before laughing even more.

"Hey, come on," Vida giggled. "You always laugh when Claire turns herself into funny stuff," she pointed out, before she and Chip dissolved into laughter again.

"I'm sure it's just a side-effect of your organic powers! It'll go away," Madison told him, and he nodded. "Knock on wood," she added, and they all started laughing again.

"Ah, don't worry Xander, it's all good, it's almost winter, you'll be bare in no time," Electra giggled, making them laugh even harder.

"Come on guys, _leaf _Xander alone," Nick told them, before starting to laugh again as they all doubled over.

"Guys, can we focus on something more important, like opening the chest?" Xander reminded them of the task at hand. "We're running out of time," the Rangers all stared at the puzzle, trying to figure it out.

"Hey, I got it," Chip stepped forwards, and they glanced at him.

"You figure it out?" Vincent asked hopefully.

"No, but I think I know who can," he looked to them as a glimmer of hope returned to him.

1-2-3-4-5

Humming to herself as she walked through the forest, a young woman with long blonde hair looked around. She spotted Phineas's camp, and smiled softly. She checked the basket that hung from her arm, and started walking over. She frowned a little as she spotted what appeared to be a tree resting on a log.

"Phineas, have you been dressing the trees up to be your friends again?" the girl called, before jumping as the tree suddenly turned around. The girl dropped her basket, and her hands flew to her mouth.

Xander stared at the girl in front of him. He hadn't even heard her coming. She had long dark blonde hair that had been tied up with a green ribbon, and silvery blue eyes. She wore a pair of leggings and denim shorts, along with a white vest and a black shirt, and a pair of soft leather hunting boots. She didn't look like one of the usual creatures that lived in the forest. She looked human.

"Hey...who are-" before Xander could finish asking his question, the strange girl turned and ran. "Hey! Wait!" he called, but she disappeared into the forest.

"Ah! You scared Charlie away!" Phineas scolded as he returned.

"Charlie?" Xander turned to the Troblin with wide eyes.

"Yep! Charlie," he nodded. "She's always been real nice to me," he smiled as he looked in the direction that Charlie had run in.

"What's she doing here? Isn't she human?" Xander asked, finding himself very curious about the strange girl.

"Don't know much about her, she keeps to herself. She asks questions, she don't give answers," Phineas responded as he took a seat, and Xander glanced over his shoulder again, his eyes moving from the basket still on the ground, to the direction she had disappeared in.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra walked through the forest looking for Xander, having heard from Vida what had been happening. While she and Claire worked on an antidote, Electra had volunteered to talk to the tree himself. She spotted Phineas nearby, and ran over.

"Hey Phineas," she greeted him, and he smiled weakly back.

"Hey. Careful what you say," he warned. "Tough crowd," he gestured to Xander as he sat on a log. Electra's eyes widened as she saw just how far gone the potion was.

"Hey Xander," she took a seat beside him. "I heard what happened," she looked at him, amazed by the power of the potion.

"Come to make more jokes? Or rub it in my face that I made a mistake," Xander grumbled, not looking at her.

"Neither, actually," Electra looked up at the sky. "You're not the first to make mistakes, you know," she commented.

"What, you've made mistakes?" Xander muttered, still glaring at the ground.

"I've made loads of mistakes Xander," Electra looked at him with a wry smile. "One of those mistakes turned me evil," Xander finally looked at her, his eyes wide. "I turned on my friends, took their Dino Gems...I said some really cruel things that I still regret, even though _everyone _tells me it's not my fault," she rolled her eyes. "It was my fault. I was stupid, I didn't think, and it nearly cost Hunter, Blake and Cam their lives. Not to mention the whole world," she smiled softly at him.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked with a scowl.

"Cause mistakes happen. To be honest, it's refreshing to see you so down. You're always so confident. I envy that," Xander's scowl slipped off his wooden face in shock.

"You _envy _me? Why?"

"Because I'm a pain in the ass," Electra replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm snarky, rude, I have problems following orders, I'm reckless, I have a short fuse, and I know I annoy people," she chuckled as she listed off her bad features.

"You're not...you're not annoying..." Xander muttered, looking away again. "We probably wouldn't have gotten far without you here," Electra felt red burn at her cheeks, and smiled. "It sounds kinda stupid, but I like how we fight. Kinda like a brother/sister thing, y'know?" Electra laughed, and nodded.

"There's always one. That's what they said. There's always one Ranger I single out to pick on cause I know they'll react the best. I'm twisted, but hey, it makes life fun, right?" Xander managed a smile, and Electra clapped him on the back. "Claire and Vida are working on an antidote, we're gonna get you back to normal," she told him gently, and Xander's smile instantly dropped.

"It's too late. Look at me. I was so worried about looking perfect...and now, I'll never be able to show my face to anyone again. Xander the Great is gone for good," he looked away, and Electra looked back up at the sky.

"Well that's not true. Claire and Vida finish the antidote to restore you to your ridiculously pretty self, and everything will be ok. You know why?" Electra looked at him again. "Because confidence comes from inside, and your insides are still in there, being protected by that stubborn attitude that I've always admired about you," she told him firmly and Xander remained silent.

"You think I'm ridiculously pretty?" he suddenly asked, and Electra burst out laughing.

"You see? There's the confident Xander we know," she laughed. "Just because you're not 'Xander the Great', doesn't mean there's not greatness in you. After all, you're the mighty Green Ranger," Electra laughed, shaking her head.

"Yeah...you're right. There's more than just looks," Xander nodded.

"That's the spirit!" Electra cheered, jumping to her feet. "Now let's get you detreeified," she offered her hand.

"Is that even a word?" Xander wondered.

"Probably not, no," Electra shook her head, and Xander took her hand. She pulled him to his feet, only for Xander to groan. "Please tell me you haven't just grown roots," Electra's smile faded as they looked down. "Of all the times you could have grown roots?!" she demanded.

"Hey! I can't control this!" Xander retorted, and Electra started to pull. "Ow, ow!" he yelled, but Electra kept pulling. "Stop! You're gonna rip my arms off!" Xander protested. Finally, Electra stopped tugging.

"Don't think you're getting anywhere," she determined, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "You can let me go now," Electra looked down at where his hands held her wrists, but Xander didn't reply. "Let me go," Electra repeated, and Xander looked up.

"Uh...I can't..." he told her, and Electra quirked an eyebrow. "My arms stiffened...and I can't move my hands," Xander admitted.

"Oh...you are _kidding _me," Electra growled, and started pulling again, inciting more yelling from the green ranger.

"You are an evil person!" Xander cried out as his arms protested even more.

"Not anymore!" Electra yelled back. She heard her morpher chime, and looked down. "Well that is amazing," she spoke in a flat voice. No sooner did Xander think that she would stop pulling, did Electra start again.

"Stop! Electra stop! I swear if you break my arms off I'll-"

"You'll what, get leaves in my hair?" Electra rolled her eyes.

"Guys! I got it!" they looked around as Vida ran over, carrying the potion. Electra felt herself being yanked forwards as Xander's arms moved down to his sides.

"Quick my mouth is starting to-" Xander's words were cut off as wood covered his mouth. Vida started to spray it, but it was taking too long.

"Hurry up, I am not spending my life stuck to a tree," Electra looked at the pink Ranger.

"Wait, I have a faster way!" Vida realised. She stepped back, and used her magic. "Mystic Raincloud!" she turned into a cloud and floated over Xander, and rained the potion over him. She floated back to the ground and watched as Xander turned back to normal.

"It worked!" Electra yanked her wrists free and rubbed them.

"It's gone! Thank you," he looked to the two girls. "I couldn't have gone through this without either of you," he told them thankfully, before his morpher chimed. "New spell code," he grinned to them.

"_Guys! We need your help_!" Nick's voice yelled up at Xander. "_Hurry_!" the three looked to each other and started running, leaving Phineas's camp to join the others in their battle.

1-2-3-4-5

Vincent flipped over a set of railings as he was surrounded by Hidiacs. Calling on his shield, he slammed it into them, forcing the mutants back, giving him some room to breathe. The fight against the monster that had been sent to grab the Fireheart was intense, and three Rangers down had made the battle even tougher. Vincent swore as the shield was knocked out of his hands, and before he could grab his Magi Staff, the Hidiacs swarmed him again and attacked.

"There they are!" Xander, Vida and Electra spotted the other rangers as they fought off the Hidiacs.

"Just in time! That bonehead's going after the Fireheart!" Xander ran after the monster, and Vida and Electra joined the fight against the Hidiacs. Electra leapt over the head of one of the mutants and landed in a circle of them. A grin spread across her face, and she called on her Magi Staff, spinning in a circle and taking them all out.

"Hope you're not scared of the dark," she faced more that were running towards her. She spun her staff, and the darkness flew from it, surrounding the Hidiacs. There was a small explosion, and the darkness faded, leaving the Hidiacs to crash to the ground, twitching. "Well, may you should have been scared," Electra mused, before looking over as Xander defeated the monster, and the others took out the last of the Hidiacs.

"You did it!" Vida grinned as she clapped a hand to the green ranger's arm.

"Got a new spell code," Xander smiled back as the Mystic Fighters disappeared from his hands.

"We all got it! Guess we can all use it," Chip lifted his morpher to show the others.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers returned to Rock Porium, nervously waiting to see if Toby would be able to unlock the chest of the Fireheart or not.

"I really hope this works guys," Vincent paced, his arms folded as they waited.

"Wait! I think I've got it!" they heard Toby yell, and they all ran into the office.

"You solved it?" Chip asked in shock.

"Yes, yes! It's a mathematical conundrum," he explained in a frantic voice. "You see, each of these buttons corresponds to a number, that when divided by Pi...gives a series of images, that all point towards...this button," they all looked to Vida, who stood in front of the button Toby indicated to. Nervous, Vida pressed the button, and there was a series of whirls, before the chest opened with a ding. "I'm the greatest puzzle solver on the face of the planet!" Toby yelled as the Rangers breathed out, relieved. It had been a seriously intense hour.

"Thanks a lot Toby," they called, grabbing the chest quickly. Toby's smile dropped as they carried it out.

"Wait! What's inside?! You gotta tell me!" Toby pleaded.

"Uh, Toby..." Xander spoke up quickly, blocking his way. "If a tree makes a mistake in the forest, and a friend comes to help him, does the tree learn its lesson?" he asked, winking to Electra as she rolled her eyes.

"The tree better bloody learn its lesson," she muttered to Vida, who started laughing.

"A riddle! Oh!" Toby ran away to try and solve it, and they hurried back to Rootcore.

1-2-3-4-5

"Here we go," Nick opened the chest at last as everyone crowded around excitedly. They peered inside, to find a large red and gold egg.

"An egg?" Chip frowned. "The Fireheart is an egg?" he asked, looking up at Udonna.

"No ordinary egg Chip..." Udonna looked at it, and back up at them with a smile. "This is the last _dragon _egg," she revealed, stunning the Rangers into silence.

**This was a pretty fun chapter to write. I actually intended for Vincent and Xander to become good friends, and then I decided to have Electra be the one to talk to Xander so yeah.**

**I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!**


	10. Master and Sensei

Chapter 10: Master and Sensei

Vincent was torn from his pleasant, much needed, sleep, by the beeping of his alarm. He let out a groan, one hand emerging from under the blanket, so he could punch his alarm clock to silence it. The Gold Ranger then turned over and pulled the blanket over his head, before a loud banging on his door echoed through his room.

"Get up Vincent!" Electra called in. "I made breakfast, so get up so you can eat before work!" Vincent sat up, his hair standing on end as he looked blearily around his room. They had only been living in their new apartment for just over three months, and he'd already managed to turn his bedroom into the same as the one in the family home. A complete mess.

Vincent eventually emerged from his room, yawning widely as he padded over to the kitchen. Electra sat eating her breakfast already, and a plate sat in front of Vincent's usual seat. She glanced up, and smirked. "Nice hair," she commented.

"Thanks, I've been working on it all night," he fell into the seat and immediately began eating. "When did you learn to cook anyway Electra? I remember you setting fire to toast when you lived at home," he commented, and Electra went a little red.

"I've been living on my own for a few years, I needed to learn. Tori and Letha gave me a few pointers," she explained, shoving the last of the bacon on her plate into her mouth.

"You know you don't have to cook for me, right?" Vincent's voice became clearer as he ate, waking up quickly.

"I know. But since you'd sooner look at a take-out menu than a recipe book, I think it's better that I add a couple extra of whatever I'm cooking for myself so you get some food," Electra chuckled.

"I don't always eat take-out," Vincent defended as he finished what was on his plate and went back to the pan to get more.

"Oh no, sometimes you just don't eat. Or you pick up something stupid on the way to Rock Porium," Electra rolled her eyes as she got up, washing her plate. She glanced over as Vincent finished off the last of the food, and sighed. "I miss the days where I had leftovers for dinner..." she shook her head as Vincent just winked. "Hurry up and get dressed," Electra told him, and the Gold Ranger laughed, heading off as Electra washed the rest of the dishes. "God...look at me...I'm almost maturing," Electra commented, before scoffing, leaving the dishes to dry as she walked out of the kitchen.

1-2-3-4-5

Walking through Briarwood towards Rock Porium, Vincent looked up at the clear sky and smiled happily.

"Hope this weather keeps up," he commented, and Electra nodded, playing with her necklace that she usually kept under her shirt. "What is that?" Vincent noticed that it was identical to the Pai Zhuq symbol.

"My communicator. Cam made them when we first beat Lothor, just in case something ever happened," Electra explained as she looked down, and put it away.

"You ever have to use it?" Vincent asked curiously. He'd not asked many questions about her time as a Ranger, not wanting to pry much.

"Once, when Lothor escaped the Abyss of Evil," Electra tucked her necklace away and looked ahead, not liking to think of the events that transpired around that time. In the Mystic Force team, only Xander knew what happened, and he promised not to tell the others. Vincent didn't pry, instead his eyes travelled to a group of girls walking past, and when he smiled at them, they started giggling. "I see you've gotten over Vida," Electra commented, rolling her eyes.

"No point in moping over the past when I'm the one who ended it," Vincent shrugged, not looking too upset as they continued walking.

"Hey, looks like you're growing up bro. Maybe you'll get your stripes after all," she teased, and started running as he narrowed his eyes.

"You could stand to show a little more confidence in me!" Vincent chased after her, and Electra laughed.

"That was showing more confidence in you!" she called back. "Maybe if you spent less time staring at girls, and more time focusing, you'd have gotten your stripes by now," Electra told him as she reached Rock Porium. Still laughing as she walked in, she turned to smirk to her brother as he rolled his eyes.

"Tormenting Vincent again?" Xander asked from behind the counter. Maddie stood with Ben in the corner of the shop, talking away with a wide smile as they held hands. Ben glanced over, and smiled lightly as Maddie glanced over and waved.

"I make him breakfast, I get to be mean. It's only fair," Electra winked to him, and waved back at Maddie.

"Care to make me breakfast then, in return for all the mean stuff you say to me?" Xander smirked, and Electra only laughed.

"You wish beanstalk!" she smirked, and realised that Vincent hadn't walked in. "Yo, you gonna sulk out here all day or actually work for once?" Electra went to walk back outside to see her brother, only to be tackled by a flying white blur. Electra crashed to the ground hard, making Xander spin around quickly, ready to fight as the others peered over. "One day I'll see that coming..." Electra groaned as she opened her eyes, very aware of who had attacked her.

"I knew it was you!" Letha giggled as she hugged her best friend. Her coppery hair, which had grown past her elbows, had been cut to shoulder length. She wore a pair of shorts and a sleeveless white shirt, along with her favourite pair of roller blades.

"Of course you did..." Electra couldn't help but laugh as Letha finally let her go. "I didn't know you were coming to town, why didn't you call?" she asked as they stood up.

"Cause then she wouldn't have been able to try to kill you," Electra looked up to see Dustin, Cam, Hunter and Belle walk in with a laughing Vincent.

"Hey guys," Electra grinned, before glancing to Xander as he leaned on the counter.

"Letha?" the ex-white ranger looked at him sharply, and broke into a wide smile.

"Xander! What are you doing here?" Letha skated closer to the counter and hugged the green ranger tightly.

"Wait...you guys know each other?" Electra raised any eyebrow.

"Yeah, she's-"

"Harmony!" Chip almost tackled Letha in a hug.

"Chip!" Letha giggled, hugging him back. "I told you to call me Letha!" she slapped his arm as they pulled away. Chip walked over and hugged Belle as well, and she smiled brightly at him.

"Anyone else really confused, or is it just me?" Electra looked around as even Madison and Vida knew Letha and Belle. Dustin, Cam, Hunter, Nick and Vincent nodded, just as confused as she was.

"Chip's our cousin," Belle explained as she took Cam's hand again.

"He's your what?!" both Electra and Vincent gaped. Letha just giggled, and Electra put a hand to her face.

"Of all the people in this damn city...I knew there was something familiar about you," Electra muttered as she looked at Chip.

"What's going on here?" Nick asked as he finally spoke up.

"What's going on is that it is too early in the day for this," Electra hoisted herself up onto the counter. "Nick, this is my best friend Letha, and her sister Belle. The guy who has dirt on his face is Dustin," the earth ninja went red and started rubbing at his face as Letha started laughing. "You know Hunter, and that's Cam, everyone's favourite sarcastic genius," she gestured to Belle's boyfriend, who grinned back.

"I wouldn't be so sarcastic if you guys understood what I was saying more," he replied.

"I understand plenty," Electra defended, and he just smirked back. "And for other introductions. This is Nick, Chip, Madison and Vida, and Xander," she gestured to each of the workers. "And believe me when I say, this is about as much work as they usually do," Electra told them, and Xander hit her with a magazine.

"I can't believe you guys know each other, that's so weird," Chip commented as he looked from Letha to Electra.

"You don't know the half of it," Electra muttered under her breath as she looked around. Cam shot her a weird look as he passed, being pulled through the shop by Belle. Chip insisted on showing Letha around as well, and Dustin followed, still a little confused about what was going on. "I think my head just exploded," Electra announced, looking up at Hunter as he walked over.

"You and me both," he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Do they know?" Hunter asked as he glanced over at the others.

"Nope. Only you, me and Vincent know," Electra shook her head.

"Know what?" Xander popped up, and Electra rolled her eyes. "No way, were they Rangers too?" Electra turned slightly, putting a hand to his face.

"Shut up and go back to dreaming up magical girls," Electra shoved him back. "Ok. So now Xander knows too," she sighed, leaning forwards slightly so her head hit Hunter's chest.

"Magical girl?" Hunter looked down at her.

"Xander thinks he saw some girl in the forest. I'm certain it was some kind of tree-hallucination, since he was turning into a tree at the time," Electra told him, and Hunter raised an eyebrow, glancing up at Xander as he went red.

"It wasn't some hallucination! Just because Udonna and Claire don't know who she is doesn't mean she doesn't exist!" Xander insisted stubbornly. Since he had seen the mysterious girl in the forest, he couldn't stop thinking about her. "Phineas knows her! Her name is Charlie. She's real!" he told Electra.

"Who's Phineas?"

"A half troll, half goblin. He's helped us out before, and he's kind of an outcast in the magical community," Electra explained. "He also talks to himself and appears out of nowhere," she added.

"You do that second part too..." Xander muttered, stomping off.

"You really think she doesn't exist?" Hunter asked as Electra wrapped her arms around his neck.

"She probably does," Electra admitted with a smirk. "But I don't think she's human. At least not entirely. She wouldn't be in the Magical Realm otherwise," she pulled Hunter down to meet her in a kiss. A paper ball hit Hunter in the side of the head, and he pulled away. They glanced over to where Letha was now hiding behind Dustin, giggling.

"We have such mature friends," Electra commented sarcastically, before grabbing the paper ball and throwing it. It caught Dustin in the nose, making the others start laughing.

"What was that about being mature?" Hunter laughed, and Electra smirked up.

"I didn't say anything about us being mature," she shrugged.

"I didn't even throw it man!" Dustin complained, and turned to Letha, pouting. She smiled up at him, reaching up to kiss his nose, and his smile returned as he blushed.

"We're here for five minutes and all hell breaks loose," Cam looked at Belle, who smiled as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"We've just put Electra and Letha back into the same room, what did you expect?" she asked, and he nodded, laughing quietly before the paper ball hit Belle in the back of the head.

"Ok, if you all don't stop messing, we'll be forced to ask you to leave," Xander told them sternly, and several paper balls hit him. He turned and glared at Vida, Nick and Vincent as they laughed, having also been responsible.

"You going to tell them?" Hunter asked quietly as more paper balls started to be thrown around Rock Porium.

"I need to talk to Udonna and the others first. After Blake and Tori found out, it really sank it that I can't keep this secret from ex-rangers. It's too obvious," Electra commented, still sitting on the counter. "I'm just worried about what could happen. You guys are retired and Sensei has our morphers. I don't want anything-"

"Nothing's going to happen," Hunter cut her off. "We're Ninja masters, we can take care of ourselves," he pointed out, and Electra rolled her eyes.

"That didn't stop Lothor from turning Tori, Shane and Dustin evil," Electra reminded him, and Hunter rolled his eyes. "I know you guys can take care of yourselves, I just worry a lot. Hell, I still worry about these guys constantly. I mean, Xander nearly turned himself into a tree last week, and it's not been that long since Vida was turned into a vampire," Electra watched as Vida, Nick and Xander talked to Letha while Madison and Vincent talked to Cam and Belle. Chip and Dustin were discussing comic books excitedly.

"Nothing's gonna happen. You worry way too much," Hunter pulled Electra close and pressed a kiss to her head.

"Well we can't all be dark and brooding," she muttered back.

"You love it really," Hunter smirked down, and Electra peeked up at him.

"Well..." Hunter laughed and pushed her as she pretended to consider this. Electra jumped down off the counter, and was nearly tackled by Letha again.

"Come on, I gotta show you stuff in town," the ex-white ranger insisted.

"Letha, I've been living here for months. I know this place pretty well by now," Electra told her as she managed to squirm out of her grip.

"We grew up in this city, I'd say we know it better," Belle told her as she walked out with Cam.

"Oh, ok. Guess I'm going sight-seeing," Electra shrugged. "Have fun guys," she smirked at the workers, who glared at her.

"One day we'll managed to get you hired here," Nick threatened, but Electra just waved and followed the others out.

1-2-3-4-5

As the six walked around town, with Letha and Belle playing tour guides, Electra had to admit that she was having fun. She'd missed her friends, and with everything that had been going on, she hadn't been able to visit.

"Hey, so did you ever find out about that Fireheart thing?" Letha asked, and Electra missed a step, stumbling.

"Fireheart?" Cam frowned. "What's that?" he asked curiously as Electra tried not to show her nervousness.

"What? Something you don't know Cam?" she turned to the Samurai, who rolled his eyes. "I was under the impression that you knew everything!" Electra exclaimed.

"Nope, he doesn't," Letha shook her head. "That belief was destroyed when he didn't understand how the Mini-Zord worked at first," Cam glared at her, the slightest trace of a blush gracing his features.

"I figured it out!" he defended, which only made the others laugh.

"You still didn't know it at the time!" Letha exclaimed, and Belle slapped her sister's arm.

"Leave him alone or I'll point out that your boyfriend still has dirt on his face," she said, and Dustin went red. He released Letha's hand to wipe at his face again as Belle smirked. "Oh, I guess I just did," Letha slapped her sister, who laughed as Letha grabbed Dustin's hand away from his face and stalked away.

"Is the tour over?" Electra asked, attempting to hide the almost hopeful tone in her voice.

"Just one more thing," Belle turned to her, her expression becoming serious. "The forest on the edge of town. You've not been near it, right?" Electra frowned, trying not to tense up. She felt Hunter's hand tighten around her own, but didn't react.

"I've heard stories about the forest. About anyone who goes there not coming back. What's the real story?" Electra asked, wanting to hear it from someone who didn't just listen to rumours.

"Well, when Letha and I were little, our parents always told us that the forest was dangerous, that no-one ever came out. When we joined the Light Ninja Academy, Sensei Hitari told us that there was some kind of strange energy there, as close to magic as she believes exists," Belle told her, and Electra raised an eyebrow.

"With the lives we lead, how can you not believe in magic?" she asked, and Belle shrugged.

"It just seems a little too unbelievable," she replied. "Apparently when the rumours first started, a couple of ninjas were sent out to find out what was going on, but even they didn't return," Belle told her, and Electra frowned.

"Please don't go looking for trouble," Cam recognised the expression on Electra's face.

"Would I do that?" Electra tried to look innocent, but received three flat looks in response. "Hey, trouble finds me. I behave...most of the time..." she muttered, looking away.

"Just be careful. I have a feeling that these monster attacks are connected to the forest," Belle told her, and Electra nodded. "We're gonna catch up with Letha, you coming?" the elder Light Ninja asked, but Electra shook her head.

"I told Aaron that I'd give him a rematch on the track, and that if Hunter was around I'd drag him along," she replied. "I'll meet you back at Rock Porium later?" Electra suggested, and the two nodded. Saying a quick goodbye, Electra and Hunter headed off to the track.

"So what _did _you find out about the Fireheart?" Hunter asked once they were out of earshot.

"It's a long story," Electra sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"She's hiding something, isn't she?" Belle asked as she and Cam watched the two for a moment.

"Definitely," Cam agreed, nodding. They started walking in the direction that Letha had gone in with Dustin, and spotted the two up ahead.

"Where's Electra and Hunter?" Letha asked as they regrouped.

"Track. Said they'd meet us later," Belle told her, frowning a little.

"I'm going to kill her. There's something she's not telling us, and I know it's something to do with that Fireheart thing," Letha folded her arms, and Dustin nodded.

"It's to do with the forest," Belle's words made Letha's eyes widen.

"Hang on, that super creepy forest on the edge of town you told me about?" Dustin looked at his girlfriend quickly. Letha brushed her hair from her face, ready to beat the truth out of her best friend.

"So, you're the ones I have to deal with," the four looked around to see Necrolai appearing through a spell seal. "How boring," she commented as she walked towards them.

"Oh, you do not want to deal with us right now, freak," Belle snapped at her as they fell into fighting stances. Necrolai just scoffed, stopping a few meters away.

"Please, you're ants waiting to be crushed. Better yet, you're pawns in my latest trap. Hidiacs!" she snapped her fingers, and the footsoldiers appeared in a light blue spell seal.

"Urgh, that's nasty!" Dustin stared at the mutants.

"Now's not the time Dustin," Cam told him, and the Hidiacs ran at them.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra pulled her helmet off and pushed her hair from her face as Hunter pulled up beside her, pulling his own helmet off.

"That guy is pretty good," he commented, looking over to where Aaron was talking to a couple of fans. Turned out, he was well known in the motocross world.

"Didn't stop you from smoking him though," Electra replied, making him grin.

"You're getting close to it too y'know," Hunter commented, and a blush mottled Electra's features as she tried to hide her smile. "Now if only you could take compliments better," he chuckled, and she shoved him. As he laughed, her morpher chimed, and Electra frowned.

"What's up?" she pulled it from her bag, flipping it open.

"_There is dark energy in town,_" Udonna reported. Electra groaned, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm on it," she replied, and closed her morpher. "One day where I don't have to fight. That's all I ask for," Electra muttered irritably.

"You wouldn't have to ask if you hadn't become a Ranger again," Hunter reminded her, and looked away innocently as she shot a dark glare at him.

"I'll be back in a bit," she climbed off her bike and kissed him softly before running off, disappearing through a portal as soon as she was out of view.

Electra reappeared in town, her motocross gear replaced with her uniform, close to loud screams as civilians ran from the latest attack. Electra pushed her way through the crowd, occasionally stumbling back as someone rammed her shoulder. When she finally reached the site of attack, she went cold. Not only were her friends fighting the Hidiacs, but Necrolai was nearby.

"I've had enough of this!" Necrolai had grown bored with the fighting. She leapt down and blasted the four, knocking them to the ground. "Take them!" the vampire ordered the remaining Hidiacs, who grabbed them.

"No!" Electra snapped into action and leapt down, but Necrolai just turned around.

"You're too late little girl!" Necrolai laughed, and snapped her fingers. The Hidiacs disappeared through a spell seal, taking their prisoners with them.

"I'm going to kill you," Electra promised as her black aura blazed.

"I seem to recall you trying before, yet here I am," Necrolai cackled, leaping into the air and flying off. Electra let out a growl, and yanked her morpher from her pocket.

"Guys, get to Rootcore," she spoke into it, her barely controlled rage making her voice shake. "We have a problem."

1-2-3-4-5

"You're kidding," Vida stared at Electra as she paced, unable to stand still.

"God, I wish I was," Electra shook her head. "The Dawn Crystal didn't work. Necrolai's still out there, and now she has our friends. And I am going to rip her wings off," she snarled, and an arm worked around her waist. Hunter pulled her into him, stopping her from pacing.

"They're not defenceless. They can protect themselves," he reminded her, but it did little to calm down the shaking Ranger.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, frowning. The rest of the Rangers, except for Vincent and Xander, watched curiously. Electra glanced up at Hunter, who shrugged, and she sighed.

"Letha, Dustin and Cam were Power Rangers," Chip's eyes widened as Electra admitted this.

"My...cousin was a Ranger?" the yellow Ranger leaned against the table, unable to believe it.

"Three times," Electra nodded. "She was the White Monochrome Ranger, and the Navy Dino Thunder Ranger. She and Belle are teachers at the Light Ninja Academy," she told them as the others stared in shock. They'd known Letha and Belle since they were kids.

"And Dustin and Cam?" Madison asked as she folded her arms.

"Yellow and Green," Electra glanced to the blue ranger.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nick asked with a frown.

"Because their fight is over. It's a secret identity for a reason," Electra replied. "But now Necrolai has them, and she's going to be holding a grudge for the whole Dawn Crystal thing," she clenched her fists. "I need to stop her," she muttered.

"You mean, _we _need to stop her," Vincent stepped forwards.

"I-"

"We're in this together. They're your friends, but Necrolai is our enemy," Vincent stopped Electra before she could speak. "You beat the crap out of me to get the whole team thing to sink in, but the moment it involves you, you're on your own?" he asked, and Electra looked away. She knew that he was right. It was something that had been a problem for her the previous year, when her students had decided to destroy the ninja community. "You're always sticking your nose into our problems, you need to let us do the same."

"Yeah, like when you stuck with me when Vida was turned into a Vampire, even when the others thought I was crazy," Chip nodded with a grin.

"And you talked some sense into me when I gave up," Xander agreed.

"You need to rely on us, just like we rely on you," Nick walked over to face her.

"How do you think we'll beat these guys if we're not working together?" Vida asked, and Electra sighed. She let out a groan, and leaned her head back so it was resting against Hunter.

"Gotta love that the ones who've been Rangers for 4 months know better than someone who's been one for four years," she looked up at him, and he grinned.

"Told you that you were stubborn," he reminded her, and she rolled her eyes. As he pressed a kiss to her forehead, her morpher chimed, and she frowned, flipping it open.

"I guess that even someone as stubborn as me can learn a thing or two. New spell code," Electra grinned to her friends as the spell code flashed across her morpher.

"Just in time too," Udonna commented as she looked up from the globe. "Necrolai has revealed herself. It is most certainly a trap," she told them.

"Like that's new," Electra rolled her eyes.

"Let's go guys," Nick nodded to the others.

1-2-3-4-5

"Well I can honestly say that when we visited Briarwood that I didn't expect this," Cam commented dryly. He and Belle were pressed back to back, their wrists tied together over their heads, stuck to the tree branch above them. On another branch, Letha and Dustin were the same, with Letha barely able to keep herself from swinging about.

"Tell me about it," Dustin agreed. "This happen a lot with you guys?" he angled his head to try and look at his girlfriend.

"This is new to me too," Letha grumbled. "Will you stop moving?" she requested as she swung about again.

"I knew this forest was involved with these monsters..." Belle sighed as she looked around. Large numbers of Hidiacs were scattered all around, and Necrolai was waiting for the Rangers.

"At least Electra knows we were taken..." Letha mumbled, having seen the Master before they were taken.

"Yeah..." Belle frowned. "Odd that she showed up when those monsters did," she commented.

"Was she wearing a cape?" Cam asked.

"Yeah man, those clothes she had on were totally weird," Dustin agreed. "But..."

"Let me guess, you liked the cloak?" Letha teased. Dustin grinned sheepishly, and Letha giggled.

"You four sound awfully calm for bait," Necrolai finally looked over at them.

"Hey, those clothes...these new Rangers...you don't think..." Belle frowned.

"With Electra, I wouldn't be surprised," Cam nodded. "It seems about right," he commented as both completely ignored Necrolai.

"What about you guys talking about?" Letha frowned as she looked over.

"Yeah, can you talk in a way we can all understand?" Dustin nodded, completely confused over the two talking. Like always, they talked in a way that only they could understand.

"What always happens when Electra moves?" Cam glanced over to the two after rolling his eyes. The two frowned, before it finally sank in.

"No...she's not..." Letha looked at her sister with wide eyes.

"_If _you are all quite done talking nonsense," Necrolai growled, fed up with their talking and refusal to acknowledge her. "Perhaps you can act like the hostages you are," she suggested.

"We're hostages?" Dustin asked, looking around again blankly.

"Well, it's better than last time," Cam looked a little bored.

"Oh yeah, on Lothor's ship," Letha remembered. "At least this place isn't going to blow up," she commented.

"Ah, slightly disturbing memories," Cam thought back to when Lothor had kidnapped him and left him on his ship, setting it to self-destruct.

"And once again I'm here to save your ass," they all looked over to where Electra was standing, leaning against the tree.

"Called it," Belle and Cam spoke simultaneously, and Electra grinned.

"I knew you'd come. And I knew you'd come alone," Necrolai smirked as she walked towards her. "My trap worked perfectly. Give yourself up, and your pathetic friends will be spared," she instructed. However, she was taken by surprise when Nick hit her with a kick from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"You should give yourself a little less credit, hag. My friends are smart enough not to let me come alone," Electra straightened up as the other Rangers appeared.

"Chip?" Letha spotted her cousin, who smiled brightly back. "Of course..." she sighed, shaking her head.

"Nice cloaks," Dustin called with a grin, and Letha laughed as they rolled their eyes.

"You guys ready?" Nick called as he joined them.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Dark as the night! Black Mystic Ranger!"

"Disruptive as thunder! Gold Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Aw dude! Their suits are so much cooler!" Dustin exclaimed as the Rangers moved into action, fighting off the Hidiacs.

"Now is not the time for fanboying Dustin," Cam told him, and the ex-yellow Ranger grinned guiltily as they watched the fight.

"Ok, let's try out this new spell code," Electra drew her morpher and flipped it open. "Mystic Slicer!" she called, and a naginata appeared, floating long enough for Electra to grab. "Finally," she laughed lightly, and with expert precision, she cut through the Hidiacs that surrounded her. As the others fought off the rest of the Hidiacs, Electra raced over to her friends, and quickly cut through the ropes that held them.

"You really like being a Ranger, huh?" Letha commented as she landed, rubbing her wrists.

"I'm sorry for not telling you guys," Electra spoke, the guilt weighing in her voice. "I just didn't want you to get involved," she admitted.

"Bit late for that," Cam commented, and Electra rolled her eyes.

"There was no harm done," Belle commented. "Plus, that means I can finally get some answers about this place," she looked around the forest, and Electra chuckled.

"I'll answer your questions after this. You're not going to believe it," she warned, before the four looked over her shoulder quickly. Electra whirled around instinctively and raised her new weapon to block Necrolai. "And you, hag. I don't care how many Dawn Crystals we have to use, we're going to beat you," she promised.

"Hah! You've already failed once to defeat me, what makes you think you'll succeed next time?" Necrolai asked as the two started fighting. They moved through the battlefield quickly, with Electra on the attack.

"Because we're fighting for the right side. We fight together, and unlike you lot and the clear dissension in your ranks, we focus on the bigger picture. Taking you down," Electra replied, and leapt back as Necrolai blocked her attack and countered with her own.

"Oh please," the Vampire scoffed. "It's only a matter of time before the Darkness you claim to control, starts controlling you," she warned.

"Bit late on that warning!" Electra called as she blocked Necrolai's next attack. "The darkness tried to take over nearly two years ago. It didn't stay in control for long," she told the Vampire.

"But how much longer will you be able to keep that control?" Necrolai replied as the two clashed again, pushing at each other to try and force the other back.

"As long as I have to," Electra growled. "Forever, if that's what it takes," she finally forced Necrolai back, and started spinning her Mystic Slicer. She let out a yell, grabbing the wooden handle tightly, and swung up. Black energy flew from the blade, and slammed into Necrolai, making her cry out. She slammed into a tree, and the other Rangers stood beside Electra as they faced her.

"That power won't remain yours for long, black Ranger! It will be ours!" Necrolai promised as she staggered to her feet. She screeched, and leapt into the air, flying off.

"She got away again?" Vida growled. The pink ranger was determined to see Necrolai's end.

"We'll get her," Nick told her as he looked up at the sky where Necrolai had disappeared.

"We always get them," Electra nodded, and turned to face her friends as she demorphed. However, as she did, Letha tackled her in another hug and they crashed to the ground. "If I live long enough," she groaned, making the others laugh.

1-2-3-4-5

"I can't believe that there's a completely different realm in the forest near where I grew up," Belle shook her head as she took in Electra's story.

"Now you know how we feel," Vida nodded with a smile from behind the counter of Rock Porium.

"Hey, what about us?" Nick gestured to himself, Vincent and Electra. "We only just arrived in town when this all happened," he pointed out.

"Meh, used to it by now," Electra shrugged, grinning from where she sat.

"Yeah, well we're not," Vincent stuck by the Red Ranger. "And then someone had to go and get us dragged into the world of employment," the two then looked to Madison, who smiled innocently.

"Speaking of work, do you ever do any?" Letha asked from her seat beside Electra. The black ranger started laughing, and the employees glared at her.

"We do work! Electra just makes us sound lazy," Xander defended.

"Says the supervisor," Hunter commented, leaning against the wall. He smirked as the green ranger went red and shot him a dirty look.

"No wonder you guys get on so well," Vincent commented. "You're all as mean as she is," he indicated to his sister.

"I like to think of it as realistic," Cam replied, making them laugh. Vincent just stuck out his tongue. "And I see you have the same retaliations as Electra," he added, and Electra glanced at the samurai.

"Come on, that's not cool. We're supposed to be picking on them," she complained as he smirked, folding his arms as Belle laughed.

"But Electra, you're one of them," Letha teased, and Electra punched her shoulder. The Light Ninja jumped up and ran over to Dustin, seeking protection in his arms.

"I forgot how much I hate you guys," Electra stood up and stomped off as they laughed even more.

**I finally got around to finish Dark Wish, though playing through the entire story of Catherine today probably slowed down production (All I can think about are blocks and how to move them to climb up the tower) but yeah, I decided to update!**

**I'll see what I can do about updating tomorrow, but I'll be going to Dublin for a few days from Tuesday so after tomorrow there won't be an update for a bit!**

**But yeah, I hope you liked!**


	11. The Gatekeeper Part 1

Chapter 11: The Gatekeeper Part 1

Yawning widely as he walked through Briarwood on his way to work, Vincent cursed getting stuck with the early shift again. He also cursed being stupid enough to bet with Xander over who got the early shift. Another curse was added to the Hidiacs that had attacked the previous night. He couldn't wait to crawl back into bed later.

Too tired to even smile as he passed a group of girls who peeked at him and giggled, Vincent ran a hand through his fluffy brown hair, and considered getting it cut. His thoughts were interrupted by a chime from his morpher, which he pulled from his worn grey jacket and flipped open.

"What's up?" Vincent answered, resisting a loud yawn.

"_Necrolai just grabbed Toby!_" Chip's frantic voice woke Vincent up instantly.

"On my way!" he told the yellow Ranger, and looked around to ensure there was nobody about. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" Vincent morphed into his gold suit and called on his Mystic Racer. He shot into the air, and flew through Briarwood to where Necrolai had grabbed their boss, and met up with the other Rangers, minus Nick, on the way.

The six flew over Briarwood quickly, before spotting where Nick was already fighting Necrolai. They leapt off their Racers, and landed beside Nick.

"Back off Rangers!" Necrolai snarled back. They ran at her, and started fighting, but Necrolai overpowered them. Electra slammed against a wall, and as she recovered and went to rejoin the fight, Madison was thrown into her and they fell to the ground. "Get back!" Necrolai went to grab Toby and escape, but Nick blocked her way. "Out of my way!" she snarled.

"What do you want with him?!" Nick demanded.

"The Gatekeeper will be mine!" Necrolai yelled back as the others pushed themselves back to their feet.

"Gatekeeper?"

"He possesses more power than all of you put together!" Necrolai told them, before leaping into the air. "I'll be back!" she yelled, laughing as she disappeared into the distance.

"Alright, what the heck is a Gatekeeper?" Vincent groaned as he walked over to the Red Ranger, a hand on his helmet.

1-2-3-4-5

"Udonna!" Madison called as the group of Rangers returned to Rootcore. "Something weird is going on," she told the white witch as they ran up to her.

"We just had a close encounter with Necrolai," Xander reported.

"She was looking for someone called the Gatekeeper," Chip told Udonna, who froze as she lifted her head.

"Do you know something about this Gatekeeper? Whatever that is?" Electra asked as she noticed the reaction from their teacher. Udonna remained silent, before turning to face them.

"The Gatekeeper, was a powerful sorceress named Niella," Udonna spoke softly as she walked past. "She was my sister," her words took them all by surprise as she turned to look at them properly. "Niella cast a spell that sealed the Gate, and banished Morticon and his armies to the Underworld," Udonna explained to them. "The spell was so strong that it depleted all of her life force. When the Gate was lowered to the depths, Niella was gone..." the Rangers stared in horror as Udonna told them the story of her painful past. "But her spirit lives on in my heart," Udonna smiled, but they could see the sadness behind it, clear as day. "And through the legacy of her child," she added.

"An heir?" Vincent straightened up a little.

"She had a child?" Madison asked, her brown eyes wide.

"Yes," Udonna nodded. "And I fear that is whom Necrolai is seeking," she told them.

"So we have to find Niella's kid...and protect them," Electra spoke up, and the other Rangers nodded.

"You won't have to look far," Udonna smiled. "Niella's daughter, and the heir to the Gatekeeper's power, is Claire," Udonna's words took everyone by surprise, including the apprentice sorceress nearby as she became visible again. She stared at Udonna with wide eyes as everyone looked to her.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers returned to Rock Porium to continue their work for the day, and after her shock had worn off a little, Claire had bolted into the forest.

"Let me guess, you never told her any of this?" Electra asked as Udonna sighed, putting a hand to her face. The witch who controlled ice and snow shook her head, and Electra sighed. "No offence, but that wasn't very smart. There's no point in hiding someone's destiny from them. They'll find out eventually, and if someone who doesn't want them fulfilling that destiny finds out first, they'll be in trouble. Ignorance isn't bliss Udonna, and Claire's in danger now," Electra told her firmly, and Udonna looked up with a slight smile.

"You have some wisdom in you child," she told Electra, who went red.

"Yeah? Well...not much," she shrugged. "It's partly experience," she told Udonna, and when she saw the confusion flicker across the teacher's face, a wry smile spread across her face. "Last year this prophecy that involved me and Letha, and I wasn't told about my part to play until it was too late, even though one of my teacher's knew I'd be involved. Maybe because they knew I'd try and stop it, I don't know," Electra explained, her voice soft.

Before either could speak again, the globe in the centre of the table revealed that Necrolai was back. Udonna contacted the other Rangers to inform them as Electra watched the vampire through the globe. Her fists were clenched, and she was ready for battle. She was still pissed at Necrolai for kidnapping her friends and holding them as bait for a trap.

"Go Electra, I'll find Claire," Udonna told the black Ranger, who nodded and disappeared through a portal of darkness.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra reappeared just in time to see her friends and brother hit the ground, having been hit by Necrolai's new powers.

"Oi hag!" Necrolai looked around to see Electra standing unmorphed. "Want to try that new trick on me?" she challenged.

"Bad choice, black Ranger!" Necrolai raised her arms again.

"Electra no!" Nick yelled.

"Get out of the way!" Maddie pleaded, but Electra didn't move. Necrolai sent her attack at Electra, who raised her hands instead.

"Power of darkness!" she yelled, and a small black aura, unlike the one that appeared when she called on her animal spirit, appeared around her. The attack slammed into Electra's outstretched hands, and forced her back slightly, but other than that, did little damage.

"What?!" Necrolai was shocked that her new, much more powerful attack, had done next to no damage.

"A little training goes a long way!" Electra smirked back, but a trickle of swear rolled down the side of her face. "I've been training for nearly a year to get my power of darkness under control, and thanks to Sensei, I can absorb your attacks!" Electra told Necrolai, but it was a bluff. It took effort to do what she had done, and it could only be done twice before she would pass out.

"My new powers may be useless on you, but not the others!" Necrolai turned and attacked the other Rangers, who were just getting up. They cried out and crashed to the ground again.

"Ok..." Electra muttered, pulling out her morpher. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed and ran at Necrolai. "Mystic Slicer!" she called on the naginata that she had unlocked from the spell code and slashed down, only for Necrolai to block it with the new blades that protruded from her arms.

"You're not strong enough to fight me girl!" Necrolai threw her back, but the attack had given the other Rangers enough time to get up. They surrounded Necrolai and attacked, but she blocked each of their moves and knocked them flying.

"Mystic Protector!" Vincent summoned his shield and attacked, but within moments it was thrown out of his hands. Necrolai slashed up his chest and knocked him to the ground before turning to shove Xander back. Before long, all seven were lying on the ground, exhausted and in pain.

"Foolish rangers!" Necrolai laughed.

"You're the fool if you think I'm giving up!" Nick yelled at her as he got to his feet again. He let out a yell at ran at Necrolai, who threw more dark energy blasts at him. "You'll never get the Gatekeeper while we're around!" Nick promised as he deflected each of the attacks and attacked as he got in close, only for Necrolai to block his attacks and throw him back again.

"You're beat, and no-one has come to save you," Necrolai mocked as she walked towards the fallen Rangers, who groaned as they tried to get back up. "Maybe there _is _no other Gatekeeper," she commented, only for a strange energy to hit her. "What?!" Necrolai cried out as she was shoved to the side.

"Wrong Necrolai!" Claire called as she ran towards the battle. "My mother's spirit lives inside me!" she yelled.

"Claire no!" Vincent called to the apprentice as she looked from them, to the circlet in her hand. She put it on, and a purple headpiece appeared, and her clothes changed so she wore robes coloured purple and white.

"Power of the shining moon! Behold, the Gatekeeper!" she called as the Rangers stared in shock. They could feel her incredible power.

"The Oracle was right!" everyone was staring at Claire in amazement. "So there is another...and my plan to draw you out has worked perfectly!" Necrolai smirked as she faced Claire.

"You're going to regret ever meeting me, witch," Claire told her, and held out her hand. A staff appeared in her hand, and with a quick thrust upwards, she blocked Necrolai's attack.

"No!" the vampire cried in horror, before Claire's eyes started glowing blue and she fired an attack of her own. It surrounded Necrolai, destroying the blades on her arms. "My new powers...they're gone!" she cried in horror as the Rangers ran over to her.

"Let's give her a hand Rangers!" Nick called, and they leapt up into the air. They all aimed a kick that slammed into Necrolai, pushing her to the ground.

"You will still lose Rangers," Necrolai warned as they landed and she got up, holding her arm. "I'll return!" she screeched, flying off. The Rangers turned and ran over to Claire, complimenting her actions.

"There's no time for that. Udonna's been captured," she alerted them.

"What? How?" before Claire could explain, Nick let out a cry and put his hands to his helmet as she staggered back.

"Nick...what is it?" Vida asked, all of them knowing that it was Koragg contacting him again.

"He wants to fight you...alone..." Nick turned to Claire.

"I accept," Claire nodded.

1-2-3-4-5

"We shouldn't have let Claire go on her own..." Madison shook her head as the Rangers stood in Rootcore. Claire had gone to fight Koragg to save Udonna.

"You saw how she was back there. She sent Necrolai running," Vida reminded her sister.

"Koragg isn't Necrolai. He defeated Udonna no problem," Electra remembered their first encounter with Koragg, when he had easily defeated Udonna and taken her Snow Staff, preventing her from being able to morph.

"Claire was so serious back there...is it bad that I miss the old Claire?" Vincent asked as he thought about the bumbling apprentice who had stared at the Fireheart egg for hours, waiting for the Dragon to hatch. Electra shook her head, thinking the same. They looked at the globe, and watched as Claire faced Koragg down. Something unpleasant twisted inside his stomach as he watched the two fight. "I can't watch this," Vincent shook his head, but as he went to turn away, Electra grabbed his arm.

"You owe it to Claire to watch, victory or defeat. We all do," she told him, and Vincent nodded, reluctantly turning his eyes back to the globe as Claire used the same attack she had used on Necrolai, and it threw Koragg back. However, even after another attack, he was still standing. Claire was thrown back by Koragg's Wolf Attack, before she stood up and switched into a much larger form. Koragg called on his Megazord form, and the two started fighting again. She restrained Koragg, but before her next attack could hit, he broke free and knocked it aside, before attacking with a Dark Magic Strike. Claire was returned to her normal form, and she collapsed.

"We need to get out there..." Vida whispered as all of them watched.

"If we go out there Udonna will be killed..." Nick muttered, but even he didn't sound convinced. "Let's go guys," he decided, unable to watch the apprentice at the mercy of the ruthless knight.

As Koragg went to strike down Claire in an attempt to force her to break the seal on the Underworld that her mother had placed, Chip attacked. Koragg staggered back as the hit slammed into him.

"Thunder power!" Vincent called as he slammed his Magi Staff – in it's hammer form – to the ground. There was a clap of thunder and the sonic boom threw Koragg back even further as the other Rangers appeared.

"Rangers..." Claire stared up at them.

"Do not interfere!" Koragg warned, before Nick leapt over their shoulders, calling on the Mystic Fighters.

"Spin attack!" Nick slammed into Koragg. "Pick on someone your own size!" he called to the Knight. Their advantage was short-lived, as they heard Claire cry out. They looked around to see Claire in Necrolai's grasp.

"Stop!" Koragg blocked the way as the Rangers tried to get to her. Necrolai yanked Claire's head back, forcing her to activate her magic.

"By the power of the Gatekeeper, let the Gate rise up!" Necrolai called, and Claire screamed. Her circlet started glowing purple, and dark clouds gathered overhead.

"This is not good," Vincent groaned as they looked up to see the gate to the Underworld rising up. The Rangers ran towards Claire, who had been tossed aside.

"Oh man...now what?" Nick groaned as they stared up at the massive gate, not knowing what to do at all.

**Got a bit distracted so didn't have time to update on Monday, so updating now!**

**Hope you like it!**


	12. The Gatekeeper Part 2

Chapter 12: The Gatekeeper Part 2

"I'm sorry Rangers..." Claire groaned, completely drained from being forced to open the seal. The dark clouds blocked out the sun above them, blanketing Briarwood in semi-darkness.

"It wasn't your fault," Vincent insisted as he looked to the Gatekeeper. "Don't blame yourself," he told her as he put a hand on her arm. His stomach clenched painfully again as he saw how exhausted she was.

"Look! Up at the Gate!" Xander yelled, and they spotted one of the Gargoyles as it came to life, letting out a loud roar. It leapt from the Gate and landed in the city, and blasted the Rangers and Claire before they could even think about moving. The group crashed to the ground, before Koragg moved towards them quickly.

"Get up!" he yanked Claire up by her arm.

"Let her go!" Vincent was on his feet in an instant. He attacked Koragg, but the Knight had him back on the ground, writhing in pain from a quick slash across his front.

"You won't get away this time," Koragg told her. "And the Gargoyle of the Gate will take care of you!" the Knight informed the Rangers.

"Wait!" Nick got to his feet and attacked Koragg next, but each of his punches and kicks were blocked. Koragg slammed his shield into the Red Ranger, who crashed to the ground again. Koragg laughed, and created a spell seal to disappear with Claire.

"No!" the Rangers ran towards it, but they disappeared before they could do anything. The Gargoyle's foot slammed down where they were about to run to.

"Look out!" Nick yelled, and the Rangers leapt into the air to avoid the monster's attack. They called on their Titan forms, and combined into their Megazord. "MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" the Megazord swung down, but the Gargoyle was too fast. It threw the Megazord into the Gate, and a sword sliced through the doors, hitting them from behind.

"Hello Rangers!" a voice greeted through the crack of the doorway.

"Oh great. Morticon's here," Electra growled.

"Your Megazord cracked the Gate, enough for me to slip through!" Morticon told them with a laugh. "Now, the whole world will know my crushing power!" he told them as they breathed out in horror. Things looked bad. Worse than ever before. "Yes! The time has come! The destruction of the surface world, is at hand!" the monster yelled happily.

"Uh oh..." Nick groaned as they found themselves trapped between Morticon and the Gargoyle.

"I've done it!" Morticon cheered as he shoved the door to the underworld open. "I'm free!" he yelled, and celebrated by attacking the Megazord.

"Oh no...he's out..."

"What now?!"

"We gotta fight him?!"

"Looks like we don't have a choice. Come on guys!" Nick yelled to his friends, and they began fighting off Morticon, countering his sword with their sabre. However, Morticon was much more skilled with the blade, and he caught them across the chest plate with his sword, making them cry out. "Let's take it to the sky!" the Red Ranger called, and they summoned their wings, shooting into the sky.

"SPIRITS OF THE ANCIENT TITANS!" they called on their much more powerful attack.

"Come on!"

"TITAN'S ATTACK!" they shot back down at Morticon, but their attack was blocked by his sword, and they were thrown to the ground.

"Is that the best you've got?!" Morticon taunted as he raised his sword again.

"Hardly!" Nick yelled back as they got back up. Steam started to shoot from a pipe on Morticon's head, and blackness surrounded him.

"Now you'll see what true power feels like! Dark Magic Strike!" he threw the darkness at the Megazord, forcing it to break apart. The Rangers each returned to their normal size and demorphed, hitting the ground hard.

"He's just too strong for us..." Vincent groaned, an arm around his ribs.

"His Dark Magic is incredible...how can we match that?" Xander demanded from where he lay.

"We don't give up," Electra groaned as she pushed herself up. "I've faced worse than that bucket of bolts," she growled, but she was terrified. His power was immense. He'd blocked their attack like it was nothing, and taken out their Megazord. But they couldn't give up. The sky seemed to darken even more, and they looked up to see that the sky had been completely blanketed by darkness.

"Uh...I really don't like the sound of that," Vincent groaned as Morticon ordered his troops.

"Is this really how it's going to end?" Madison whispered as they looked up, feeling helpless.

"No!" Nick yelled, getting to his feet. "This is _not _how it ends! Udonna told us that we're the protectors of this city," he told the others. "And that's what we're going to do," the others nodded as they got up.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" all but Nick morphed again and grew into their Titan forms, and changed into their Dragon form. They flew through the air, working as one, and attacked the Gargoyle. Nick morphed and shot off on his bike, as the Dragon destroyed the Gargoyle. They then turned and shot fire at Morticon, but as they flew closer, they got too close and he caught them.

"Don't you know who you're dealing with?!" he demanded, his attack splitting them into separate Titans again.

"Well, we're at least still Titans..." Vincent groaned as he pushed himself up.

"That's the spirit!" Electra called, already back on her feet and attacking Morticon. She dodged his blade and attacked, but it did little to injure him. With a powerful stroke of his blade, Electra was thrown through a building. "That's not..." she groaned.

"Come on, never give up, right?" Xander pulled her back up, and she nodded. Morticon took out Chip and Madison again, before light shot down from the sky and hit the Gate.

"What's that?!" Morticon demanded, and to his horror the Gate began to lower. "What's happening?!" he roared.

"Look!"

"The Gate!"

"Impossible! Who has done this?!" Morticon roared as the clouds disappeared, and light filled Briarwood again. "My Dark Magic! Who _dares _interfere?!" he yelled, furious.

"Hey! That would be me!" Nick called.

"Hey! It's Nick!"

"And he brought Catastros!"

"No way!"

Nick leapt from Catastros and formed the Centaruous Phoenix Megazord. Drawing his sword, Nick faced Morticon.

"Now it's my turn!" the Red Ranger called, taking on Morticon. "FIRE TAIL!" he used his powerful attack and floored the monster. "Come on Rangers!" Nick called, and they grouped around him, cheering him on.

"_You insolent little ants_!" Morticon fumed as he got back to his feet.

"You guys ready?" Nick called to his friends, who nodded.

"Let's do it!" The others joined the Megazord, and they started fighting Morticon again. As they did, a bright light shone down on them.

"Where'd this energy come from?" Xander asked curiously as their Magi Staffs started glowing.

"No idea, but I'm not complaining!" Electra laughed.

"Let's see what it can do!" Nick called, and they faced Morticon again as he called on his Dark Magic Strike.

"ANCIENT POWER, MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" they called, and as their attacks clashed, Morticon's sword froze.

"Now how'd we do that?" Vincent asked, tilting his head.

"It's completely frozen!" Xander's eyes were wide under his helmet.

"It's gotta be..."

"Udonna?"

"You mean the White Ranger!" Chip grinned, and they looked to their side to find the spirit of the White Ranger standing beside them. She nodded, and they grinned.

"Yeah! Now we can't lose!" Nick called, and the others let out their yells of confidence. "TOGETHER!" they raised their sabre. "MYSTIC STRIKE!" they called, slashing down with the combined power of their own, and Udonna's.

"The great Morticon, has fallen, but the Master will prevail!" the monster roared.

"Checkmate!" the Rangers snapped their fingers, and Morticon collapsed, exploding. "Great job Rangers, Morticon's gone!"

"Forever!"

"Well, it's about time!"

1-2-3-4-5

After reuniting with Udonna, who had managed to escape from Koragg using the combined powers of her magic and her Snow Staff, they searched for Claire, finally finding her unconscious.

"Udonna...you're alive..." Claire looked up weakly at their teacher.

"A little frozen around the edges but yes, I'm alive," Udonna smiled at her as Vincent ran forwards to help the girl up.

"Morticon's gone Claire, for good," Xander told her with an excited smile.

"Yeah, Udonna was able to channel her power through the Snow Staff to help us," Vida explained with a smile.

"But none of it would have been possible if it wasn't for you," Electra told her with a grin.

"She's right," Madison smiled.

"You sealed away the Gate. You were so awesome out there!" Vincent told her, and Claire blushed. "A super-sorceress!" he nodded, and the others laughed, nodding in agreement

"Yeah...I guess I am..." Claire smiled bashfully, but it dropped as she noticed the circlet on the ground. "But that was my mother's power...and now it's all gone," she looked up at her aunt sadly.

"Niella would be proud of you today," Udonna told her, walking over. "And so am I," Claire's smile returned.

"We all are," Vincent told Claire, and her blush returned. Something gleamed in Electra's eyes, and she nudged Xander, who looked over and grinned as he noticed it too. This was definitely going to be very interesting.

**Actually nearly done writing this fic! Don't really want to be...I'm really loving it!**

**Anyways, let me know what you think! Hope you liked it!**


	13. Scaredy Cat

Chapter 13: Scaredy Cat

After their fierce battle with Morticon, the Rangers had been lucky enough to have a few days off. Udonna had allowed them a break from their studies, and Electra had done the same with their training, needing a break as well. Other than working in Rock Porium, the Rangers had been able to relax.

However, their little break had finally come to an end, and they were back to training.

"Come on Electra, even Udonna isn't making us study today," Xander whined as she stood in the middle of a clearing. "Can't we have just one more day off to let the last of the bruises heal?" he asked, flashing a charming smile.

"Evil doesn't rest for long, and when it does, that's when you have to worry the most," Electra told him, not even blinking. "But since you actually thought you could win me over with that smile, you can be first," Xander groaned, and Nick and Madison laughed, pushing him out to face Electra.

"Did I tell you that you're looking beautiful today?" Xander tried, and the others stifled their sniggers as Electra didn't react.

"Come on beanstalk, you start," Electra invited, and after a moment to prepare himself, Xander pushed forwards and swung a punch. Electra stepped back to avoid it and pushed forwards, forcing Xander to dodge and block, before she caught his wrist. In one quick movement, Xander was on the ground. "Now, did anyone see what he did wrong?" Electra asked.

"Oh, oh!" Chip raised his hand like an eager child. "He hit on teacher and got served?" he offered.

"Not cool!" Xander glared at him as he brushed leaves from his clothes and the others laughed, including Electra.

"Other than that?" she smiled.

"He let you dictate the battle," Madison spoke up, still giggling beside Nick.

"Exactly!" Electra pointed to her. "When you fight, you should be acting. Reacting only gets you knocked on your ass like Xander here," she smirked to Xander, who faced her again. "Round two?" she asked, and he fell into a fighting stance. The others watched, still sniggering. Xander pushed forwards again, and the Rangers were surprised when this time he held his own. For about 10 seconds longer. Then Electra tripped him and Xander crashed to the ground again. "Now that was much better," Electra offered her hand to the Green Ranger. "Who's next?" she asked, looking up to the others. They all shifted, looking at each other, and Electra rolled her eyes. "Ok, so I have to pick. Chip," she looked to the yellow Ranger, who groaned.

"Good luck," Vida chuckled, patting his back as both encouragement and a way to push him forwards.

"Please...just not the face," Chip told Electra, who rolled her eyes. Like with Xander, she invited him to attack first, and he pushed forwards, aiming a kick at her side. Electra caught his leg and pushed it back before moving in close. Chip attempted to defend with a couple of punches, but Electra blocked each of them and flipped him. The others groaned in sympathy as Chip landed face first in the dirt.

"You need to learn to keep pushing with your attacks. When they're countered, you hesitate," she told him as he rolled over.

"What is that attack?" Electra looked up at Nick's question.

"Yeah, the flip you do," Xander nodded.

"It's the Jackal technique," Vincent spoke up from where he stood. "An attack that comes naturally to those with a Jackal spirit," he explained. "Others can learn it, but it's not as easy," he added.

"Jackals are small creatures, and they rely on their speed to take down their prey, or to fight off their enemies," Electra explained as she helped Chip up. "Like that, those like me, with a Jackal spirit, use speed and moves that use the enemy's strength against them," she told them. "We'll stop for now. No point in tiring ourselves when we're just back from a break," she told them.

"You're just hungry, aren't you?" Vincent asked, and Electra grinned back, choosing not to answer.

"Guys! Help!" Claire's yell reached them as soon as they went back inside. "Come quickly!" they raced over to where she stood, beside the giant Dragon egg. "You gotta see this," she told them with excitement.

"I don't see-" Nick started, only to be shushed. The Egg started to move, and they all cried out in excitement.

"Did you see? Did you see it?!" Claire grabbed Vincent in her excitement, shaking him as he laughed.

"I see! It moved!" he nodded.

"This is so great! I'm so excited!" Chip exclaimed. "What does it mean?" he asked, and they all frowned.

"It means it's gonna hatch!" Vida exclaimed.

"Does anyone know _how _to hatch a Dragon egg?" Madison asked a very important question that made them all pause.

"Uh..."

"Maybe Udonna would know?" Chip suggested.

"Udonna's not here!" Claire shrieked as she grabbed him next.

"I know where we can find info," Madison ran over to the shelves, and lifted a large book. "'1001 Things You Want To Know About Dragons'," she showed them the book.

"That was very convenient," Electra commented, only to be nudged by Nick as Madison opened the book.

"Hatching dragons," Madison read aloud. "To hatch a dragon egg, set the egg upright...and proceed to bludgeon with a sledgehammer until open," she frowned as she read this.

"Yes! I've always wanted to use a sledgehammer!" Electra exclaimed.

"I'll get it!" Vida yelled, going to run for the hammer.

"Oh no you don't!" Claire yelled, covering the egg with her body. A strange knocking echoed through Rootcore, and Electra looked at the egg for a moment before they realised that it was coming from somewhere else.

"Do we have a door?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"First I've heard of it..." Electra spoke as she and Nick opened the mouth of the dragon's head to find Phineas.

"It's only Phineas," Nick rolled his eyes, and the Troblin let out a groan. They realised that he had a bandage around his head. "Are you alright?" Nick asked, walking over to him.

"Do I look like I'm alright?!" Phineas pushed his hand away. "Do I ever come and knock on your dragon-nose-thing? Do I ever wear a rather unflattering bandage around my head? Do I ever have a throbbing, pulsating, _excruciating _pain echoing throughout my mouth?!" he demanded. "Do I ever ask four questions in a row? Five-"

"Do you have a toothache?" Electra cut him off before he could start rambling.

"Aha! Bingo! Can someone please help me before my head explodes?" Phineas turned to face them, pleading.

"Wait, let me see that," Nick told him. "Say 'ah'," he told Phineas, who opened his mouth. "Aren't there dentists in the woods?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! No...what's a dentist?" Phineas asked.

"Someone you go to when your tooth hurts," Electra kept her distance, choosing not to come in range of his breath.

"Oh! Well there's the Boulder Roller, a little Gnome," he told them, nodding. "He ties one end of a vine to your bad tooth, then the other to a 500 pound boulder. Hence the title 'Boulder Roller'," he said, and Electra sighed. "He then rolls the boulder over a cliff, and voila! Bad tooth removed! Or, y'know, you go over the cliff with the boulder...either way, the pain is gone!" he explained, and accidentally poked his mouth before letting out a cry of pain. "I did it again!" he cried.

"Well, looks like we've got a trip to the dentist," Electra looked to Nick as they stopped him.

1-2-3-4-5

"It's all so tall, and shiny," Phineas looked around the city curiously as he walked with the Rangers, disguised in a jacket, a hat, and sunglasses. It wasn't long before Vida and Madison pulled Phineas off a road before a car knocked him down.

"You can't just go stepping off the curb in front of cars," Xander told Phineas, who hugged him.

"Oh...thank you...I didn't know," Xander grimaced. "New in town," Phineas grinned. "Lot of those...car things...oh! Can you eat them?" they grabbed Phineas before he could go and find out.

"Help me!" they heard a cry, and shoved Phineas between them as Leelee ran into view. "Gotta find the Power Rangers! Monsters! Beach! Cave!" Leelee shrieked as she stopped in front of them.

"Hey, Leelee, we don't know where the Power Rangers are," Nick told her as he walked over. "Why don't you look on the other side of town, and we'll look around here," he looked to the others, and they nodded quickly.

"You can never find those costumed freaks when you need them!" Leelee growled, shoving past them.

"Oh, pushy...I like that," Phineas commented as she stormed off, and Vincent raised an eyebrow at him.

"Who's she calling a costumed freak?!" Vida snarled, slamming her fist into her open palm.

"Sounds like there's trouble at the beach cave," Chip looked to the others as he grinned at Vida's attitude. "Wonder why the crystal globe didn't pick it up," he wondered as the others nodded.

"Hi, uh, over here, remember me? The one with the tooth?" Phineas reminded them.

"Oh yeah...someone should stay behind and take him to the dentist," Madison remembered, looking to the others. "Any volunteers?"

"Not it," both Electra and Vincent chimed.

"Oh no, not everyone jump up at once," Phineas lowered his head. "I'll be fine..."

"Come on, one of us has to stay," Xander looked to the others, who all looked back.

"Yes, that's right," Electra smirked as he looked to her, and his smile dropped.

"Hey guys!" Toby's voice rang out, and relief showed across Xander's face instantly.

"Then again, maybe not," Xander ran over to his boss, and explained what was going on.

1-2-3-4-5

After leaving Phineas with Toby, who was lead to believe that the Troblin was actually Xander's uncle who had been living in the mountains in Europe his entire life, the Rangers ran to the beach, morphing as they got there.

"There it is!" Nick called as he spotted Hidiacs at the entrance to a cave.

"Well there's a few Hidiacs..." Xander raised an eyebrow.

"Hardly what I'd call a global alert," Chip shrugged.

"Remember, it _was _Leelee who was the one freaking out," Electra reminded them, grinning under her helmet. The Hidiacs ran at them, and they took them out quickly before running into the cave.

"Everybody stop!" Nick yelled suddenly, and they all crashed into him, nearly falling over in the process. "I can't see where I'm going," Nick called as they recovered.

"Will this help?" Chip asked. "Magi Staff!" his Magi Staff lit up, filling the cave with light.

"You couldn't have done that before?" Electra chuckled.

"Chip, you are a-" Madison stopped abruptly, before letting out a scream. "Frog! Get it off me! Get it off me!" Madison screamed, and proceeded to knock Nick and Xander over as she overbalanced and fell.

"You can't be scared of a little frog!" Nick exclaimed as Electra and Vida laughed loudly.

"I'm not afraid...I'm petrified!" Madison yelled back. "Ugly...slimy..."

"Speaking of ugly..." Vida looked over at a statue. "What is _that_?"

"Looks like a mummy.." Xander crawled over and looked at it curiously.

"Hey! Hey over here! There's something else!" Nick ran over to where a lamp was buried in the sand. "It's a lamp with the Mystic Force Crest on it!" he told them. "A lost treasure! And now it's ours!" he lifted it,only for light to flash. The ground started to shake for a moment, before stopping.

"What the heck was that?" Vincent asked as they looked around.

"What was that large bang?" Nick asked.

"I know the answer to your question," they spun around to see Necrolai. "That was you destroying the forcefield stopping me from entering here. Now give me what I came for!" she ordered, holding out her hand.

"Yeah right!" Electra scoffed, standing in the way.

"Oh, really?" Necrolai tilted her head, and shoved past all the Rangers, grabbing Nick. "You can keep your lamp," she told him, and tossed him aside as well. "I want this!" she grabbed the statue, and blasted them with a strange fog.

"Where is she?" Nick asked as they got back up.

"She's gone!" Xander growled, looking around.

"And she took the mummy!"

"I got a bad feeling we'll see that thing again."

"Maybe, but at least she didn't get the lamp," Nick spoke thankfully, looking down at the lamp in his hands.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers stood in Rootcore, staring at the lamp they had recovered from the cave.

"Yep...it's definitely got the Mystic symbol on it," Madison nodded.

"Maybe there's more writing," Nick grabbed a cloth to clean it, and Electra took a step back.

"Am I the only one who's seen Aladdin?" she asked as Nick wiped the dirt off, and blew some sand off. It started to shake, and a strange creature burst out, flying over to a clear area before landing, revealing himself to be a giant cat.

"I'm the great genie Jenji!" he announced.

"Called it," Electra glanced to the others.

"One wish," he bowed to them.

"A genie..."

"Got a problem with that?!" the cat-genie demanded, raising his fists like he was ready to fight.

"No! No," Xander shook his head.

"Good, cause I hate violence," Jenji straightened up. "Here are the rules! You are the Master, I am the Genie. You get one wish. Can't hurt anyone with it, blah blah blah," he explained, and Electra raised an eyebrow.

"A real life Genie. Always wanted one of those," Chip grinned to the others, who laughed.

"What's the catch?" Vincent asked as they stared at him.

"_One _wish. Don't take all day. Got a lot of things to do, like _sit in a cave for another 19 years_!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Are you blaming us?" Vida asked with a frown.

"Oh, so it's blame the big cat?" Jenji replied as he turned to look at her.

"So one wish, right?" Xander asked.

"Airplanes, balloons, cash, DVDs – not pirated – elephants, ferns, gold, houses, igloos, jade, kites, limes, moats, necklaces, opals, polo-ponies, quills – who put the steps? - roast beef, six silver saddles, Texas, underwear, vases, whales, xylophones, yaks and zebras," Jenji gasped for breath as the Rangers laughed, most of them drawn in by this. "A to Z, anything your heart desires," he turned to them again.

"I know, with just one wish," Chip pushed in front, ignoring the others. "I wish, for ten wishes, for each of us," he suggested.

"Except me," Electra called. She wanted nothing to do with something she didn't understand.

"Granted!" Jenji announced, and the others began cheering. "Like nobody's ever asked for that before..." Jenji muttered sarcastically.

"I wish...for 100 diamonds," Xander held out his hands.

"You haven't washed your hands lately, have you," Jenji commented as he looked down.

"Nothing happened!"

"Of course not! You only had one wish!" Jenji told them, shoving past. "Carrot-top wished for ten wishes for each of you. I granted that, thereby and henceforth nullifying any further wishes," the Rangers let out loud groans of disappointment as Electra chuckled. She had to admit, there was something about the cat-genie that she liked. "Hey, it's in the Genie Contract," he told them. Claire walked past, carrying the Fireheart, and Jenji whirled around. "Oh! Is that a Dragon's egg? Cause I'm hungry!"

"Yes it is," Claire turned and smiled proudly.

"Can someone say 'omelette'?" Jenji asked eagerly.

"Can someone say 'mutilated cat that tried to eat Fireheart'?" Vincent replied, his arms folded as he walked over to Claire.

"Does you-know-who know that you brought home a stray cat?" Claire asked, looking to the Rangers.

"Don't worry, I don't think we'll keep him," Nick commented.

"It's about to hatch," Jenji walked over. "Keep it warm. Someone sit on it," he told them, looking at the egg. "It's uncomfortable, but it's the only way," he explained.

"I was looking forward to the bludgeoning with a sledgehammer bit..." Electra muttered. Claire looked down, and sighed, knowing exactly who was going to have to sit on the egg.

"Wait, what is that?" Jenji froze. The others frowned as he looked around. "It's the darkness! It's here!" he yelled, and the others looked around quickly.

"No it's not," Electra's calm voice made them all look to her.

"What do you mean, it's not?" Jenji demanded. "I sense it, as clear as day! Maybe it's because my senses are superior to your feeble human ones," Electra just rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked over to him, and he let out a yell. "Ah! It's you!" he realised.

"Superior senses my ass," Electra chuckled. "You don't need to worry, I control the darkness," she told him with a wave of her hand.

"How can I believe that?" Jenji scoffed, stepping back from her. "Besides, there's something frankly canine about you," he added, watching her suspiciously.

"That would be my Jackal spirit," she told him, folding her arms.

"Well how long can you control the darkness for? Especially at that level...it's terrifying," he told her, and Electra sighed. She was getting sick of hearing people question her strength of control.

"I'm not evil," Jenji paused slightly at her softer voice. "Evil won't stick," she muttered, turning and walking back to her seat. While most of the others looked confused, Xander walked over to her, being the only one who knew the truth.

"You alright?" he asked, and Electra raised an eyebrow. "You helped me when I was in a bad place, it's only fair that I help you out," Xander smiled and her, and Electra smiled back.

"Thanks Xander. I'll call in that favour when I need it. I'm ok," she told him, sitting down on the table. "I think we should be focusing more on that," the two glanced over to where Vincent was helping Claire balance.

"You think he's realised it yet?" Xander asked in a quiet voice.

"Highly doubtful," Electra smirked. "It would explain his lack of flirting with every girl lately though," Xander laughed and nodded as they both thought about the last few days. Since Claire had almost died fulfilling her role as the Gatekeeper, Vincent had been spending more time with her, and had barely even noticed other girls.

"Good, good," Jenji nodded as he walked past Claire. Xander and Electra walked over, still grinning as Vincent stepped away. "Now, the important thing is you can't get off the egg until it hatches," Jenji instructed.

"How long will that take?" Claire frowned.

"A few minutes...a couple of days...sometimes a month...anything up to 30 or 40 years," the Rangers started to laugh. "Kidding," the genie told her, before the globe chimed. "More eggs!" Jenji exclaimed excitedly.

"Evil doesn't sleep. We have to go," Nick looked to the others as they glanced at the globe, which showed Briarwood being covered in dark clouds.

"Ok, well, have fun! Play safe, I'll be gone by the time you get back," Jenji told them as they ran to the exit.

"No way," Nick told him as he walked back in. "_You _owe us wishes," Nick told them as he lifted the lamp.

"What about the contract?" Jenji asked.

"Back in the lamp. You're coming with us," Nick ignored his question and held up the lamp.

"Fine. But you should know that when it comes to fighting..." Jenji became small and shot into the lamp. "I'm just a kitten," Jenji laughed as he peeked out of the top. The Rangers laughed and started to leave again. "Actually, I think I forgot my keys!" Nick was yanked along as Jenji attempted to escape. "Someone should keep an eye – do you want me to sit on the egg?" Jenji made several suggestions to avoid going off to battle, before they finally managed to drag him out.

1-2-3-4-5

Running through Briarwood, already morphed, the Rangers found the cause of the dark clouds that shadowed Briarwood. Nick was trailing along behind them as Jenji continued to try and flee the fight.

"Whoa, look at that..." Vida breathed as they stared at a strange black cloud that floated nearby. "I've never seen anything like it!" the pink Ranger exclaimed as Nick reached them, still attempting to hold onto Jenji.

"Ok...well, this was fun," Jenji stopped struggling and peeked out of the lamp. "What say we run home, grab a pillow, and get under the covers and hide?" he suggested nervously.

"At last! The Power Rangers!" a voice called out before they could respond to the cowardly cat. A figure, who looked like a mummy with flashing lights behind him landed nearby. "Let me introduce myself. I am the destroyer of your world," he told them. "I am Imperious, dark wizard of the Underworld!"

"Well that's funny. Morticon said the same thing," Vincent called back. "And what happened to him? Pretty sure he got himself blown up," he shrugged, but Electra nudged him. She could sense it. He was even more powerful than Morticon.

"Don't call yourself a wizard!" Nick yelled at Imperious, walking forwards. "Wizards use their magic to _help_ people!" he told him.

"Your witch, Udonna, has misled you, red wizard," Imperious told them. "Magic is for fulfilling all your own desires. Come to my world, and learn what _real _power is!" he exclaimed, wielding what appeared to be a fluffy fan.

"Thanks for the invite, but not a chance!" Nick shouted back, and Imperious moved his fan slightly, causing an unseen power to slam into each of the Rangers. They cried out and fell to the ground as he laughed. "I just remembered! We've got a Genie in here who owes us some wishes. I'll rub it and get Jenji to help us!" Nick started to rub the lamp, but Jenji just peeked out.

"Sorry, I've just granted my own wish. To leave!" with a cry, Jenji flew off, ignoring Nick's yells to stop.

"Some genie you are!" Nick shouted after him as Jenji hid.

"What are you doing, relying on a genie to help?" Electra demanded as she pushed herself back to her feet. "Get lazy, and that'll be the end of us," she scolded, facing Imperious again.

"Hmm, you're an interesting one, aren't you?" he commented as Electra narrowed her eyes under her helmet.

"So they tell me," she replied, drawing her Magi Staff. She ran at him, but as she went to strike, he disappeared. Electra looked around quickly, and as he reappeared right in front of her, she reacted instinctively and teleported back, out of reach. Nick ran past and swung his Magi Staff, but Imperious disappeared, and sent Nick flying.

Xander went next, using his power of nature to summon vines that wrapped around Imperious and lifted him into the air. The dark wizard pretended to cry out for help, but using his own magic to shatter the vines. When he landed, he used more magic to wrap vines around Xander, and attacked him.

"Let's see how you handle Tornado Power!" Vida went up next as Imperious laughed. "I'm gonna blow you away!" Vida became a tornado.

"I don't think so..." Imperious cast a spell to create a tornado of his to counter Vida's attack. She was knocked out of the sky, and Maddie went up next.

"You better cool it!" she sent a jet of water at Imperious, who waved his fan again.

"_Entoa_!" he sent the water flying back at Maddie, and threw her into the air.

"I think that deserves a clap!" Vincent slammed his hammer shaped Magi Staff to the ground, and a clap of thunder created a sonic boom that was countered by a simple wave of Imperious' fan. The more powerful attack cut through Vincent's and slammed him into a tree.

"Try and stop this!" Chip summoned lightning, but Imperious just raised his fan and caught it. "But how?!"

"I have stronger magic! That's how. _Ulafow_!" he sent it back at Chip. Electra stepped in the way, holding out her hands. She blasted the attack with her Dino powers, cutting through it. "Now that's just rude!" Imperious waved his fan again and the dark powers flew from it. Electra attempted to counter with her own, but they were nowhere near as powerful. She was pushed back into Chip, and both of the crashed to the ground. Electra clutched at her chest, unable to move after taking the brunt of the attack.

"Dammit..." she groaned as she squinted up at Imperious, who laughed.

"Even someone who claims to control the darkness can't even begin to compare to my strength!" Imperious mocked as the other Rangers grouped together.

"That's it!" Nick had had enough. "Power of the Phoenix!" he leapt into the air as flames surrounded him, creating the shape of a phoenix. He flew at Imperious, only for the dark wizard to block it easily. Nick was thrown back into the others, who were all breathing heavily.

"I was misled into thinking you would be a more powerful adversary," Imperious shook his head, sounding almost disappointed. "Udonna has not chosen wisely," he sighed, and turned. "But now I will show you real power! _Vilastow_!" he grew to a massive size, and the Rangers pushed themselves back up.

"Well, we've got a few tricks too!" Nick yelled. "Ready?" they drew their morphers.

"_GALWIT MYSTO PRIFIOR_!"

They transformed into their Titan forms, and combined to make the Megazord, only to find Imperious was still much larger. With a quick kick, the Rangers were thrown to the ground.

"Come on!" Nick yelled as they called on their sabre and got back up. They summoned a spell seal, and flew up towards it.

"Oh look, a flea!" Imperious mocked, batting them out of the air. They slammed to the ground, crying out as they were thrown about. "I am growing bored with this annoyance," Imperious growled, and held out his fan. "_Mutra Vento_!" he called, and they were blasted again.

"We're not down yet!" Nick yelled, and the others nodded.

"TITAN MEGAZORD! FULL POWER!" Refusing to give up, they flew back into the air.

"It is time to end this!" Imperious decided, raising his fan. Before he could attack, Jenji appeared behind them, growing to the same height as Imperious.

"Who's a big cat now?!"

"Jenji!" Nick yelled as they turned their heads to stare at him.

"What's this?" Imperious was surprised as well.

"Alright!" Jenji cheered as he stopped growing. "Who's your daddy now, mummy?" Jenji asked, holding his hands together before throwing them up. "Look at time! Look at this! What's in my hands?" he called before putting them together.

"Foolish cat," Imperious snarled, going to attack.

"Wrong!" Jenji cheered. "Power Rangers!" he opened his hands to reveal the Megazord, which flew at Imperious and caught him in the face. "Being big is good!"

"You were lucky...Take this!" Imperious yelled as he recovered, but as he held out his hand, blue lightning ran up it and he screamed in pain.

"Take what?" Jenji mocked, cocking his head to the side.

"My magic is still weak from my time in the cave..." Imperious muttered to himself. "I need to recharge..." he murmured, before turning to them. "My apologies for not destroying you as promised, but I will!" he called, sounding more arrogant again. "_Luthar_!" he disappeared through a spell seal.

"Yeah, well, you're a bigger Luther," Jenji replied, holding the Megazord in his hand. "Peace out, mummy!" he called as the Rangers laughed.

1-2-3-4-5

Back to normal size, the Rangers cheered as they held the lamp that Jenji had returned to. They returned to Rootcore – after checking up on Phineas first, who was rocking out to the music that Toby had put on in Rock Porium – to introduce Udonna to Jenji.

"Can't you just tell me the surprise?" Udonna laughed as Chip and Vida covered her eyes and led her out of Rootcore, where the others were standing.

"No!" Vida laughed. "Now, keep your eyes closed until we say you can open them," the pink ranger instructed as they released her.

"Alright...we hope you like pets...because we have a new cat," Madison announced. "Open your eyes," she told Udonna, who opened her eyes.

"It's me!" Jenji announced. "I'm the cat!" he told her unnecessarily.

"Jenji!" Udonna exclaimed and hugged the large cat.

"Udonna! You haven't aged a day," he told her as he hugged her back.

"I don't think she's very happy about it," Electra commented, grinning to her brother as he rolled his eyes.

"I've missed you so much!" Udonna exclaimed as she pulled away from Jenji. "Where have you been?" she asked curiously.

"Well, let me tell-"

"Daggeron! Bowen!" Udonna realised, her smile disappearing instantly. "Do you know where Bowen is?" she asked hopefully as the others exchanged looks, not understanding what she meant.

"No...you see-"

"Somebody help me!" Claire's plea cut off Jenji again. Vincent shot inside instantly, and the others followed.

"You'll get to finish a sentence soon," Electra told the cat as they ran inside to find the egg shaking like crazy.

"It's gonna hatch!" Claire shrieked, and was thrown off the Fireheart, straight into Vincent.

"What's going on? What's happening?" Jenji asked as they looked over at the egg, which was sitting upright. Bits of the egg cracked and broke off, and they stared at the baby Dragon. "Waste of a perfectly good omelette..." Jenji commented as they stared at the Dragon, who chirped as he cracked the last of the egg.

"Mama..." Fireheart spoke, looking straight at Claire. The apprentice's eyes widened in shock as everyone else burst out laughing. Even though a dangerous new enemy had appeared, they had a new ally. They still had hope.

**Wrote a chapter and a oneshot, helping babysit between doing so. Figured I should update cause I've only got like 10 chapters left of this story to write. Now time for bed!**

**Hope you enjoyed this anyways!**


	14. The Mythical Element

Chapter 14: The Mythical Element

"Would you stop doing that?!" Xander's slightly muffled voice echoed through Rock Porium, earning the attention of the customers that had wandered in. The other workers just sighed and shook their heads, choosing to ignore it. They were used to it by now.

"But it helps you supervise," Electra was laughing so hard that tears were filling up in her eyes. Xander glared at her from under her helmet, shaking his head. Every time he claimed to be 'supervising', Electra would do the same thing. It drove him crazy, and actually made him work, much to the rest of the Ranger's joy.

Xander pulled off the helmet and jammed it onto Electra's head, and she continued to laugh as he got up, fixing his hair.

"Let me guess, Xander's supervising again?" Madison's voice reached them as she walked in with Ben.

"What gave it away?" Vida called from the decks.

"Possibly Electra's hysterical laughter? Or Xander's sulking face?" Vincent grinned from the counter. Electra pulled off her helmet, and stuck out her tongue at her brother as Xander did the same. "So similar they could be related!" Vincent exclaimed as Maddie and Ben laughed.

"I've never heard Electra laugh so much," Ben commented as he watched the two start fighting again.

"It's mostly at Xander's expense," Maddie replied as she rolled her eyes. Electra jammed the helmet back onto Xander's head and danced away, smirking as he swatted at her.

"She still hate hugs?" Ben asked.

"More than ever," Vincent nodded. "But I blame her best friend for that..." he mused, and Chip grinned at him from nearby.

"You'd hate hugs too if you ended up with bruises," Electra spoke, having heard them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've had my fill of tormenting Xander, I'm going to the track," she waved without looking back, and they called out goodbye as Xander fixed his hair again.

"Well, we can't say it's dull often around here," Nick commented as he walked past with a couple of boxes. Maddie laughed and nodded, before going to help him as the boxes swayed dangerously. Ben raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak as Vincent exchanged looks with Chip.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra finished strapping on her motocross gear as she hummed to herself, and crouched beside her bike to ensure that it was ok.

"Back for more, babe?" she stopped humming and her brown eyes narrowed. She straightened up, and turned to face a young man who was smirking at her. Behind him stood another three, all clad in motocross gear, smirking just as much.

"Can I help you?" Electra kept her tone controlled; her expression neutral.

"Nope, just making sure you're ready for another loss," the other guys sniggered, and it took all of Electra's willpower not to react.

"Are you?" she asked, and the sniggering stopped. "Y'know, since you've never actually won a race here," Electra shrugged as she leaned against her bike. She knew the young man well, having raced against him before. His name was Eric, and he was a skilled racer, but he looked down on others, especially Electra, who was not only new to racing, but a girl, the only girl who raced, and he didn't believe that she should be there.

"Alright, if you think you're so much better than me, bring it on. A race, just you and me," he challenged with a growl.

"No," her words only served to anger him more.

"What, are you scared you'll lose?" he demanded, and Electra scoffed.

"God no. I'd make you eat dirt," she told him confidently, and the guys behind Eric started laughing again, this time at him as he spluttered. "But I'm not going to use something that I love, something that my friends love, as a way to settle scores," Electra lifted her helmet. "Now if you'll excuse me," she pulled on her helmet, climbed onto her bike, and started it. She turned her head and winked to Eric before riding down to the track.

"Hey kid," she looked to her left as Aaron pulled up beside her.

"Lemme guess, you overheard that?" Electra watched him with a flat look. Aaron ruled the track. Nothing went down that he didn't hear about.

"I may have caught a word or two," Aaron shrugged, attempting to look innocent, but his green eyes gleamed. "But that's not what I'd like to talk about," he spoke as he looked up at the sky. Electra quirked an eyebrow, watching him. "I'd like to talk about your father, Glen Davies," Electra froze, and let out a nervous laugh.

"So you found out..." she mumbled.

"I'm impressed how long you kept it quiet for. Of course, Glen is an old friend of mine. He contacted me a couple of days ago to inform me that his son and daughter were on my turf – his words, I may add," Electra rolled her eyes at her father's dramatics. "He asked for me to keep an eye out. He was rather surprised when he found out that you were racing again. Then he asked a lot of questions about how you were doing in it," Electra went red, and smiled a little under her helmet. There was a glimmer of happiness that even when her parents refused to talk to her, her father still asked about her.

"Hey, enough of this talk, I came here to let off some steam, not brag about my dad," Electra cleared her throat and smirked as Aaron laughed.

"Well said kid. That's why I tolerate you trying to show me up," he laughed, and they moved down to the track for the start of the race.

1-2-3-4-5

After a couple of hours at the track, Electra headed off to get some food and then do a little training. It seemed like it was going to be a relatively peaceful day.

Until her morpher chimed in her pocket.

Electra stopped walking and sighed, before looking around and pulling her morpher out.

"Go for Electra," she answered irritably.

"_Return to Rootcore immediately. The Xenotome has revealed some alarming news_," Udonna's words didn't bode well, but Electra flipped her morpher closed and looked around before teleporting straight there regardless.

A little while later, the other Rangers arrived and they all gathered around impatiently, wanting to know what Udonna had discovered. The sorceress stood in front of the Xenotome as Claire rushed around trying to look after the baby dragon that had decided she was his mother.

"So what's going on Udonna?" Maddie asked curiously as they gathered together.

"The Xenotome has revealed a new Ranger," Udonna's words took them all by surprise.

"Another? But I thought we were the only ones," Chip stared at her.

"Please, that never lasts," Electra scoffed, her arms folded, but she was just as surprised. "Who is this mystery Ranger?" she asked as Udonna turned to face them.

"It does not say, only that they possess a most dangerous gift. They live in the forest. You must find them and protect them from the dark forces that must surely know by now," she told the Rangers, who nodded and headed off into the forest to try and find the mysterious new Ranger.

"I can't believe there's another Ranger. Wonder what they're like," Vincent wondered as they wandered through the forest. They had divided up into groups, with Electra volunteering to go alone.

"I wonder why the Xenotome is only telling us about them now," Chip frowned as they passed the small village that was located near Rootcore. It had been rebuilt since it had been attacked shortly after the Rangers had first arrived in Rootcore.

"Me too," the gold ranger nodded, before stopping to ask the villagers if they knew anything.

1-1-1-1-1

Electra looked around, wondering just what they were looking for. All she knew was that this mysterious new Ranger would be powerful. Which meant that the new leader of the dark forces, Imperious, would be determined to either claim them for evil, or destroy them.

"Neither of those can happen," she muttered to herself, running a hand through her hair. She walked almost silently through the forest, encountering no-one but the occasional animal. "Good thing I don't have to walk back," Electra realised that she was completely and totally lost.

She continued walking through the eerily silent forest for over an hour, but found nothing. She knew that she couldn't give up. They needed to find the new Ranger.

When her morpher chimed, Electra fumbled for it quickly, doing another scan of her surroundings as she flipped it open. "Any luck?" she asked hopefully, unnerved by the seemingly endless forests around her.

"_Define luck_," Nick's words were rushed. "_I'm guessing this is the place, since we're completely surrounded by Hidiacs_!" he called. "_We're a couple of miles south of Rootcore_!" Electra realised that splitting up hadn't been a good idea. It would take most of them a while to get back. Luckily for Nick and Xander, she wasn't most of them.

"I'm on my way!" she opened a portal with a wave of her hand and ran through it, focusing on where she wanted to go. As soon as she passed through and appeared near an almost destroyed cottage, Electra swung into action. "Call to the beast inside! Unleash the Jackal!" she summoned her animal spirit, which flew from her racing figure and bolted ahead, taking out the Hidiacs that surrounded Nick and Xander.

"Thanks!" Nick called as he spotted her.

"Thought you could do with some help," Electra spun the morpher in her hand. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed into her black suit, which was outlined by the same gold lines that the others had. "Mystic Slicer!" she called on the Naginata that had been unlocked in the form of a spell code, and raced towards the Hidiacs. She cut through them as she reached the two male Rangers, and the three continued to fight.

"Why don't you try me!" the three were blasted off their feet by a monster that leapt down from what remained of the cottage.

"I'd rather not..." Xander groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet. He grabbed his Magi Staff and held it up, summoning vines that wrapped around the monster. However, more Hidiacs swarmed them and Xander was thrown aside, forcing him to drop his Staff.

"Hah! What was that?" the monster taunted as he broke free of the vines. He charged at them, but Nick got up and met his attack with his own. Electra flipped through the air and landed lightly, pushing off as soon as she landed, swinging kicks and punches, trying to take out the Hidiacs that swarmed them. "Give up the Silver Ranger before I destroy you!" the monster ordered as Nick was shoved back.

"Never!" the Red Ranger yelled as they fought off the Hidiacs, slowly taking them all out.

"There's no need to use them," a strange voice rang out, and they all looked up to the tree beside the cottage. To their shock, the new Ranger stood on a branch. The voice and the figure revealed the new Ranger to be female, and she was clad in a silver suit. A pair of wings provided the visor for her helmet, as well as running up the sides of them. "Magi Staff!" she drew her weapon and thrust it up into the air.

A blinding light emitted from it, forcing the Rangers to cover their eyes as best they could, while the Hidiacs screeched in pain, along with the monster. When the light faded, the Rangers uncovered their eyes to discover that the Hidiacs were gone.

"What power..." the monster hissed, obviously injured as well. "We'll be back, Silver Ranger! Don't think you'll escape our power for long!" he warned disappearing through a spell seal.

"Wow...that was amazing!" Nick called as they looked up at her. "We need to talk to you! You're in danger!" he told the girl as she returned her Magi Staff to her side. She tilted her head a little.

"I can handle myself, much better than you can apparently," Electra couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her mouth. The girl had a point. "I don't need your help. Leave me alone," her voice was powerful as she barked the order at them. Before they could stop her, she snapped her fingers, and disappeared in a flash of silver, much like Udonna could do.

"I like her," Electra stated, and the two male Rangers looked to her, frowning under their helmets.

1-2-3-4-5

Xander skated through Briarwood, wondering who the mysterious new ranger was. Pushing his board to move faster, he jumped down a flight of stairs, and grinned triumphantly. His grin faltered slightly as he noticed someone sitting nearby, with long dark blonde hair that was tied up with a green ribbon.

"No way..." he breathed, and rolled towards her. The figure was sitting with their head lowered, staring at their hands. "Hey," the figure jumped as Xander spoke, and looked up. "I was right, it is you," he grinned, and the young woman frowned, her silvery-blue eyes narrowing for a moment before widening.

"You were the tree..." she recognised his eyes, though last time they were a lot more miserable. Now they were bright and filled with curiosity. Xander laughed, nodding and rubbing the back of his head.

"That was me, yeah," he nodded. "I'm Xander," he introduced himself. "Charlie, right? Phineas told me," he said quickly when she looked alarmed. She then rolled her eyes, and let out a small huff.

"That Troblin always loves to run his mouth. Yeah, I'm Charlie," she nodded.

"So what's the matter?" Xander asked, daring to take a seat near her. Charlie's frown returned as confusion flickered across her face. "You looked upset. And no-one as pretty as you should look that upset," Charlie's pale features turned red, and she looked away.

"It's nothing. I'm handling it," she muttered.

"So why are you in town?" Xander asked, unable to stop himself.

"Why are _you_ in town?" Charlie countered, turning her head to stare at him with her pale coloured eyes that made Xander's heart start pounding. He couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh as she challenged him.

"I live here," Charlie's fierce expression was replaced by one of surprise. "Now you," he indicated, and she shrugged.

"Needed some time away," she muttered. "So you're human," she studied him curiously, and he nodded.

"Yep...wait..." Xander stopped and frowned. "Aren't you? You don't look like the other...creatures in the forest," Charlie laughed at his words, and his smile returned.

"Not all of them look like troblins," she laughed. "But I'm half human," she explained softly, looking up at the sky.

"And the other half?"

"Hmm...maybe I'll tell you. Another time," Charlie told him, and stood up, brushing off her long sleeveless jacket. The white and blue material went down to her knees, hiding her denim shorts from behind. "But for now, I should probably go," she decided, going to walk off.

"Wait!" Xander blurted out without thinking, and she looked around. Before he could figure out what to say, the sky darkened overhead. He stood up quickly, lifting his skateboard as he looked around. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked around, before the monster crashed down in front of them heavily. "Charlie, run," he turned to her quickly, and her brow furrowed.

"Why should I be the one to run?" she demanded, before her eyes widened. "Unless..."

"I found you, silver Ranger!" Xander frowned for a moment, before his dark eyes widened. He looked to Charlie, who stood slightly to the side, looking ahead at the monster. That's when he noticed the large device attached to her wrist. "Come with me, or be destroyed!" the monster yelled.

"Neither of those is going to happen, so back off!" Charlie yelled back.

"You're the Silver Ranger?" was all Xander could say. Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Not the time Xander!" she told him, putting a hand to her morpher. The top lit up, and a wind picked up. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed into a silver suit that had black and gold outlines. "Spirited as the Sky! Silver Mystic Ranger!" Charlie called as Xander stared at her. "Well? Are you going to morph, or just stand there like the tree you were when I met you?" she barked at him, and he jolted.

"Definitely as spirited as the sky is right now..." Xander muttered as he pulled his morpher from his pocket.

"I heard that," Charlie replied as she drew her Magi Staff.

"Guys, the monster's back, and you're never going to guess who I found," Xander called into his morpher as Charlie ran to meet the monster.

"_We're on our way_!" Nick called, ending the communication.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" Xander morphed into his green suit and drew his Magi Staff, turning it into its axe mode. He joined Charlie against the monster, and the two went on the attack, one blocking the monster's attack as the other countered it.

"Enough!" the monster threw the pair back, and they stumbled, just about staying on their feet.

"You're pretty good," Charlie commented to Xander as they caught their breath.

"You're not too bad yourself," he replied as they looked back at the monster, who then cried out in pain. Electra flipped over his head, holding her naginata as she landed and ran over to them.

"You ok?" she asked, and Xander nodded. "You?" Electra turned her head to Charlie, who was surprised at the concern in her voice. They weren't even team-mates and yet the black Ranger was showing her compassion. All she could manage was a short nod, which seemed to satisfy her.

"You're going down!" Nick called as the others arrived, also already morphed.

"Not going to happen!" the monster yelled.

"I'll handle this," Charlie stepped forwards, breaking into a run before she could stop them. "With the power of Aether!" she held up her Magi Staff, which started to glow silver again. This time, Charlie slammed her Staff into the monster and the silver light surrounded him. He cried out as it seemed to drain him, and with one final slash, he collapsed, defeated.

"Wow...so that's the new Ranger..." Vida breathed.

"Don't get too comfortable. I don't think she's here to stay," Nick warned quietly, as Charlie turned to them. When it appeared safe, she demorphed, revealing her true appearance to them.

"Looks like you were right Xander," Electra commented. Xander had described Charlie in detail to the Rangers when they hadn't seemed to believe her. "But so was I...she's not human...not completely," Electra muttered to herself as she took in the girl's appearance. The magical air around her wasn't human.

"Charlie, wait-" Xander started as they demorphed too, but Charlie held up a hand.

"I'm not joining you guys. I don't need your protection," she told them firmly. "I don't work well with others," Charlie shrugged.

"But..." Xander muttered as he took a step forwards.

"Don't worry Xander," Electra caught his arm, stopping him. There was an almost apologetic look in Charlie's eyes as she glanced to Xander, before snapping her fingers and disappearing again. "She's not ready to be part of our team. She'll join us when she is. Trust me," she looked up at him. Xander nodded, frowning a little. "Until then, we just have to make sure that she doesn't get herself captured," Electra looked to the others.

"Definitely," Maddie nodded.

"We can do it," Nick agreed.

**Seriously loving writing for Charlie, she's way too much fun!**

**I actually completely forgot about the Young Justice reference in the previous chapter, and I am SO happy that someone caught it haha! I couldn't help myself, it was one of my favourite scenes ever.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!**


	15. Long Ago

Chapter 15: Long Ago

"Trust is the key to any team," Udonna told the team of Rangers as they stood in Rootcore. "In order to truly trust each other, you must be willing to put your safety in the hands of the team," she explained. Madison stood surrounded by the other Rangers, blindfolded. Nick pulled her forwards a little, and they all stood around her. "Are you ready Madison?"

"I think so," Madison replied as they ensured that she couldn't see anything.

"Slowly fall forwards," Udonna instructed her. "Your team will catch you," Madison fell forwards, and Nick, Xander and Vincent caught her. They were then distracted by Claire as she walked past, carrying Fireheart wrapped in a blanket, and all but Electra and Madison ran over to see. As Electra turned to call the others back, Madison fell into her, and they both crashed to the ground with cries as Udonna rushed forwards.

"That's trust for ya..." Madison complained as she pulled off her blindfold and saw that the others were cooing over the baby dragon. "At least you were there for me," she pouted to Electra.

"I think you broke me..." Electra rubbed her chest, making the blue Ranger laugh before the globe chimed and they looked around.

"Dark magic energy is emitting from the forest," Udonna told them as they all rushed over.

"We'll check it out," Nick called, and they ran off into the forest, looking around. "It's quiet..." the Red Ranger commented as they looked around.

"Almost too quiet..." Chip grinned, and they each shot a glare at him. "Sorry...always wanted to say that," he smiled apologetically.

"I get the feeling..." Vida murmured, and Electra reacted instantly, firing a blast at a tree.

"Show yourself!" she ordered, and a gold and blue figure raced out.

"Who goes there?!" he demanded.

"Like we're being watched..." Vida muttered.

"What brings you children into these dangerous woods?" he asked.

"Give us a second and we'll show you," Nick growled, and they ran at him, attacking. However, the strange warrior was powerful and skilled, and threw them all back.

"I think I know what time it is," Vincent growled as they reached for their morphers.

"Wait!" Udonna's voice interrupted the battle, and they all looked around in surprise.

"Watch out!" Nick yelled. "He's evil!" he warned carefully.

"No he's not," Udonna smiled as she walked up to them. "He's an old friend," she told them, and they looked around. The figure's armour faded to reveal a blond man, who smiled at the witch.

"Udonna," he smiled.

"Calindor!" Udonna greeted him happily, holding out her arms. "You haven't aged a day," she commented.

"I'll explain later," he told her, and looked over at the Rangers, who watched him carefully.

"These are the Mystic Rangers," Udonna gestured to them proudly. The mysterious man bowed grandly to them.

"The forest will forever be in your debt," he told them.

"Yeah well, we're not keeping note of it," Electra replied, still hostile, and Vincent nudged her.

"Who is this guy?" Madison looked to Udonna, who smiled.

"A great warrior," she told them, before turning and hugging him tightly.

"And an old friend," Calindor added.

"Hey, I'm Nick," the Red Ranger stepped forwards, becoming friendly.

"Vida, that's my sister Madison," the Pink Ranger introduced herself and her sister, while Electra quickly lifted a frog from Madison's shoulder before she noticed. They didn't need a repeat of what had happened in the cave.

"I'm Xander."

"I'm Chip!" the yellow Ranger smiled brightly.

"I'm Vincent, and the hostile one who's keeping her distance is my sister Electra. Forgive her, she's not usually so rude," Vincent grinned to Calindor, who laughed as Electra folded her arms, still watching him suspiciously.

"It's quite ok, I did sneak up on you and attack," he replied, and Electra huffed, not relaxing at all.

1-2-3-4-5

"The Seal has been broken," Udonna told Calindor as they returned to Rootcore. "Dark magic is again amongst us," she explained, and he nodded.

"I know," he nodded.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Vincent grabbed Electra's arm and pulled her back. "Why are you treating Calindor like he's our enemy?" he demanded.

"I don't trust him," Electra hissed back, shooting a cautious look over at him. "There's something familiar about his spirit. Bad familiar. I don't like it. Not to mention how he's just magically reappeared now," she shook her head.

"There's a creepy creature attacking people at the plaza!" Claire called over from the Globe.

"Fight with honour!" Calindor called as the Rangers ran past. Electra's fists clenched as they passed him. Something rubbed her the wrong way about how he said that.

"Ready?" Nick called as they lined up.

"Ready!" they called back, drawing their morphers as well.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they morphed into their respective colours and grabbed their brooms, which transformed into their Mystic Racers with a quick spell. "Ready! Firing engines!" they shot out, cheering as they flew off to battle.

"There he is! Get him!" they spotted the monster and leapt off their Racers, pushing past the fleeing civilians.

"The bad guys are always so obvious!" Vida yelled.

"Well they are the monsters who look pretty gross," Vincent chuckled. Vida leapt into the air, firing a blast from her Magi Staff, but the monster disappeared.

"Hey! Where did he go?!" Vida demanded as she landed.

"He was right here!" Nick checked the ground.

"Yoo-hoo!" the monster shot out of the ground nearby. "The joke's on you!" Jester taunted, and they spotted a couple dangling from above. "Now what are you going to do?" he mocked. "Let's play!" he ran at them.

"I've got them," Electra disappeared, just as they fell. She reappeared in the air and grabbed their arms, teleporting again back to solid land. The two staggered for a moment, before thanking her. "Forget about it! Run!" she told them, and the two ran off. "That's how you catch someone," Electra grinned as the others ran over.

"Tell me about it," Maddie glared to the others.

"We gotta find that freak!" Chip reminded them, and they ran off again to find Jester. They found him quickly enough, drawing on the ground with a strange pen.

"Not you again!" Jester groaned as he looked up.

"You're in trouble now!" Nick called. "Mystic Force Fighters!" he summoned the boxing gloves and ran at Jester, but as he swung a punch, Jester disappeared and Nick punched what was behind him, causing it to explode. Nick was thrown back, but he pushed himself up, only for Jester to land on his back, laughing. He jumped off and kicked Nick backwards, where he fell to the ground.

"That was a good one!" Jester laughed. "Bye-bye!" he disappeared into the ground again, before reappearing behind them, moving towards them. "Coming through!" he knocked them all to the ground.

"This guy is really annoying me!" Vincent yelled as he pushed himself back up.

"You and me both!" Nick agreed, only for Jester to appear in front of them and take them out again.

"You can't stop me!" Jester mocked. "I'm Jester the Pester!"

"Never has a name been so damn fitting," Electra growled.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have work to do," Jester's arm shot out and grabbed a tower in the distance. "Catch you on the flip side!" he flew off before they could stop him.

"Look, he painted something on the ground," Madison noticed the drawing on the ground. "Let's check it out," they ran over to the strange art on the ground.

"What is this thing..." Vincent wondered as they stared at it.

1-2-3-4-5

While the other Rangers went to work, Electra walked through the forest, thinking to herself. There was something about Calindor she didn't like, but even Udonna trusted him.

"Are my instincts off? Urgh...I don't know..." she muttered, and pulled out her phone, calling a number quickly.

"_Yo_," Hunter answered as Electra leaned against a tree. "_What problem can I solve now_?" he asked, half joking.

"I'm questioning my gut," Electra spoke, and heard his 'uhh..' as she put a hand to her face. "An old friend of Udonna's just showed up, but there's something weird about him," she explained. "Nobody else seems to have a problem but me! I don't know whether I'm losing it or actually sensing something," Electra admitted.

"_Ok...have your instincts ever been wrong before_?" Hunter asked, and received silence as Electra thought about it. "_There's your answer. Try and figure out what it is that's weirding you out_," the thunder ninja suggested.

"What weirds me out is that I find his spirit familiar. Like I've met him before. But apparently he's been trapped in a cave for like 20 years," Electra explained as she thought about it, shaking her head.

"_Maybe he hasn't_," Electra froze as Hunter's words made sense. She considered how she could know Calindor, if he hadn't been stuck in a cave. Then it finally hit her.

"Oh..._christ_," she whispered. "I know who he is...I gotta get back to Rootcore. Thanks, love you!" she hung up and shoved her phone into her pocket, teleporting back to Rootcore, just in time to find Claire attacking Calindor.

"Claire! What's gotten into you!" Udonna was demanding.

"He's a liar! He's the one who betrayed the Mystics!" Claire cried as Calindor tried to throw her off.

"Udonna she's out of her head!" Calindor yelled.

"No she's not!" Electra ran up and knocked the cup out of Udonna's hand. It hit a book, and spilled the liquid over it. It hissed as Calindor stopped, and Udonna stared at it before looking to Calindor. "I was right, he's not to be trusted," Electra growled as she stood beside the mentor. Calindor threw Claire off. "He's Imperious. That's why I found him so familiar," Electra explained.

"I knew I wouldn't last long with you around," Calindor growled. "I didn't expect the bumbling servant to catch on though," he mutated into Imperious, and laughed.

"She's neither bumbling, or a servant!" Electra snarled back. Imperious attacked, and Udonna shoved Electra out of the way to counter.

"You can't overpower me without your Snow Staff, Udonna!" he increased his magic, and Electra held up her hands.

"What about with my help?" Electra demanded, and raised her hands, combing Udonna's snow magic with her Dino powers. Imperious let out a cry, and disappeared. Udonna breathed out in relief, and Electra grabbed her morpher.

"Who's bumbling now, bud?" Claire mocked.

"You!" Imperious yelled, grabbing Electra as she turned around. He knocked her morpher out of her hand and tossed her into a wall, before casting a spell that put a forcefield around her, and another around Claire and Udonna. "You always were a pain, Udonna," Imperious growled. "Without the Xenotome, the Rangers will be helpless and lost!" he mocked as Electra got to her feet again. Imperious went to lift the book, only for it to shock him. "I should have known...a protection spell," he cast a spell that began to undo the Protection Spell.

1-2-3-4-5

Having heard screams coming from outside as they chased a frog through Rock Porium, the other Rangers raced to find Jester, who had returned. They managed to remove the final symbol that would have created a Dark Seal, but Jester was more powerful than they realised. He knocked them all to the ground, but Madison refused to give up.

"This guy's going down!" she yelled, running at him again.

"Bring it!" Jester mocked. Madison leapt into the air, only for Jester to hit her first. He then grabbed her and tossed her through the air, and as she landed, she demorphed. "Come here, pretty!" Jester walked towards her, and raised his weapon into the air.

"No!" Nick yelled, all of them too injured to stop him. However, the frog from before leapt up and landed on Jester's head.

"What?! A frog?" Jester yelled, grabbing it. "Get off me!" he threw it to the ground, before an attack hit him from behind.

"You're an ugly one, aren't you?" Charlie commented as Jester spun to face her.

"Charlie!" Xander exclaimed, shocked to see the silver Ranger.

"Don't think this is me joining you guys. I just can't watch you guys get your asses handed to you any more," she told them, and attacked again.

1-1-1-1-1

"You're not going to win Imperious!" Electra called as she put a hand to the forcefield, only to be shocked.

"Oh yes, I am," he looked around. "Because not only are they going to be lost without their precious book, they're going to be down a Ranger," he smirked, and Electra rolled her eyes.

"Better...monsters...have tried and failed to destroy me," she replied.

"Who said anything about destroying you?" Imperious sounded a little confused. "I need you alive if I'm going to siphon your dark powers and use them to raise the Master," he told her, and Electra's eyes widened. Her legs gave out beneath her and she sank to the ground. So that's what Anya had warned her about. That's why everyone questioned her control over the darkness. Her powers could raise the one who would destroy the world they were fighting so hard to protect.

"No..._no_!" Electra yelled, getting back to her feet. She tried using her Dino Powers, but nothing worked.

"Don't bother, your magic doesn't work in there!" Imperious snapped at her.

"I don't need magic..." Electra whispered, clenching her fists. "I can't believe I'm willingly doing this after the last time..." She then pulled off her jacket and shirt, leaving just a black vest. "I won't be a pawn in your games," her eyes flashed gold for a moment. "I call upon the highest level of my animal spirit!" she yelled, putting a fist to an open palm. Power flooded the forcefield around her, causing it to flicker as Imperious looked around.

"Whatever you're doing, it won't work child. Your magic is untrained and useless compared to mine," he told her, but there was a level of uncertainty to his voice. He had no idea what she was doing.

1-1-1-1-1

The other Rangers helped to fight off Jester along with Charlie, while Madison lifted the little frog that had saved her life.

"Where is Electra?" Vida asked as she was thrown back.

"Hell if I know! Probably still glaring at Calindor!" Vincent shouted, leaping back. A golden light nearby attracted all of their attention, and they found Madison staring up at the light that had once been the frog. A man appeared, holding a card. The bright gold light slammed into Jester, sending him flying as the Rangers all stared at the mysterious man.

"My lady," the man offered a hand to Madison, helping her back up. "Thanks. You broke the curse," he told her.

"I did?" Madison looked confused.

"Dude! Did you kiss the frog?" Madison went red as Vincent sounded disgusted.

"Ignore him, that was awesome!" Nick shoved Vincent out of the way. Even Charlie was impressed. When they saw Jester recover, the seven stood together to fight, but the man but a hand on Madison's shoulder.

"Stand back," he instructed, walking forwards. "Solar Cell Morpher! MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" he clipped the card in his hand, and morphed into a gold, blue and red suit. "Power of the Sun! Solaris Knight!"

"Whoa, that is _awesome_!" Vincent nodded in approval.

"I'm back in action!" the man called. "Where's Jenji?" he wondered, snapping his fingers.

1-1-1-1-1

"Solaris? Solaris is back? I gotta get out of here!" Jenji disappeared, but nobody noticed as Electra transformed into a jackal like creature. She howled, and the forcefield around her shattered.

"What is _that_?!" Imperious demanded as Electra walked towards him, snarling a little. She leapt at him, and Imperious barely managed to maintain his spell as he slammed his fist into her. Electra rolled away, but was on her feet again in an instant. "I have had enough!" he cast another spell, this one slamming straight into Electra. She crashed into the desk, and reverted back to her human form.

"You're not going to win," Electra ran at him, but he simply swatted at her and she slammed into a wall, blacking out. As he put his full focus back into removing the protection spell, it shattered.

"The Xenotome is mine!" Imperious went to grab it, only for a golden attack to hit him. The forcefield around Udonna and Claire disappeared, and they looked over to where the man stood with the other Rangers, minus Charlie.

"We meet again, Calindor!" the man greeted.

"Daggeron!" Udonna stared at him in shock.

"I am now called Imperious!" the dark wizard told them as Xander and Maddie hurried to Electra's side. Daggeron fell into a fighting stance, ready to continue the battle from 20 years ago. "This is not the place. We will meet again. Next time, I will finish you off for good!" Imperious promised, disappearing in a spell seal. Daggeron turned to Udonna, and embraced her in a tight hug.

"You alright?" Vincent asked Claire as he hurried over to her, and she nodded, going red and smiling bashfully. She looked over at Electra, and her smile faded a little.

"Urgh...frog...what?" Electra groaned as Xander helped her to her feet.

"What's this? Sleeping on the job?" he teased, and she blinked up at him before shoving him away. His smile dropped, and he stared at Electra, who backed away from the other Rangers.

"Who's this fro-guy," Electra corrected herself as she looked up at the man. The haze was fading, but she wasn't sure of her instincts just yet.

"This is Daggeron," Udonna smiled softly, but there was a wariness in her eyes as she looked to Electra. "He is an old friend, one that you can trust this time," she insisted, and he smiled weakly.

"Yeah..." Electra nodded. "Sorry," she offered a smile back. "Can never be too sure at first," she shrugged, and he nodded, before Vincent lifted a tuft of fur from her top.

"What-"

"I needed to get out of the forcefield. Even if Imperious just knocked me about as soon as I was out," Electra sighed.

"Do not doubt yourself child," Udonna told her, smiling. "You escaped a forcefield I could not. You are indeed powerful," Electra nodded, but didn't look like she believed it.

"Sorry...but I'm going home," Electra grabbed her jacket and shirt, and all but ran out of Rootcore, leaving the others very confused as Udonna looked worried. She hoped that Electra would be able to cope with the knowledge she now possessed.

**So close to actually being finished writing this fic. Only about another five chapters left to write...**

**Anyways, let me know what you think!  
**


	16. Silver's Choice

Chapter 16: Silver's Choice

"_Anya!" Electra's yell echoed through her dream world as soon as she became aware of her surroundings. The moment she sensed her past self, her anger grew. "Just **why **didn't you tell me?!" she demanded, spinning around to glare at the woman._

"_You needed to find out for yourself," Anya's voice was soft._

"_That's bullshit!" Electra snarled back. "It would have been nice for a heads up about, you know, the fact that my powers can empower the Master and bring him back to our world," she stormed towards Anya. "And that the world pretty much depends on me keeping control of them," there were tears of anger in her eyes._

"_You needed to find out for yourself!" Anya's voice was sharp, and filled with the real power she possessed. Surprised by her sudden forcefulness, Electra took a step back. "What if I had warned you? What would you have done? Hidden and tried to focus entirely on controlling them?!" Anya stepped forwards, her golden eyes blazing. "If you do that, you will be unable to focus on actually defeating those who threaten your world. If you focus on control, you'll neglect everything else and then control won't matter!" Anya told her firmly, and Electra sighed._

"_God, I hate that you're always right..." she muttered, and Anya's smile returned._

"_Enough of the swearing Noa. You know I hate it," was Anya's only response, and Electra rolled her eyes. "You will be ok, Noa. Your control will hold up, as long as you continue to work with your friends. You will be ok," she insisted, and Electra smiled, and nodded, closing her eyes again._

"Wake up!" Electra was rudely awoken by Letha kicking down the door into her bedroom. Electra groaned and sat up. She forgot Letha had been getting up early ever since she had become a teacher. Before that, the Light Ninja had been lazier than her.

"Serves me right for staying here..." she mumbled, staggering down the stairs a few minutes later.

"You knew what would happen," Letha smiled innocently. "Now come on, breakfast!"

"Ok..." Electra closed her eyes and proceeded to fall asleep with her head on the table.

1-2-3-4-5

"Hey, what's up with your sister?" Nick asked Vincent as they walked into Rock Porium. The Gold Ranger shrugged, his brow furrowing in a frown.

"I honestly have no idea. She's been staying at Letha's for a couple of nights to get away," he replied as he pulled on his purple work shirt. "Any luck finding out what happened with Udonna?" Vincent asked, knowing that the Red Ranger had been planning on asking their mentor. All of them had been very confused with Electra's behaviour when Imperious had attacked them.

"Nothing. She said that Electra will tell us when she's ready," Nick rolled his eyes.

"She doesn't know Electra very well, does she?" Vincent couldn't help but grin, and Nick laughed, smiling back.

"Apparently not," he shook his head. "Well, she'll come back when we need her," Nick decided as he called a greeting to Maddie and Xander. "And it means a couple of days off training," he grinned.

"Did you see Daggeron's face when Chip said that?" Vincent laughed. "Something tells me we've got another Ranger who insists that getting our asses handed to us by my older sister is important," he commented.

"Well, better her than monsters," Nick replied. "Though I think that girl Charlie will be hanging around to help, even if she said that she doesn't want to join us," he said. Vincent nodded, feeling slightly relieved that not only had they gained a new ally, they had another one who would help the moment they were in trouble. "And I think I know someone who's pretty glad that she's sticking around," the two looked directly at Xander, who was leaning on the counter talking to a customer.

"Man, he has got it _bad_," Vincent snickered. Xander looked over at them, and his grin faded in his confusion.

"So bad," Nick agreed, smiling pleasantly at the green Ranger before walking off. Vincent turned his head to watch as Nick walked over to Maddie, and started teasing her about frogs.

"Then again, we all do," Vincent ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Oi Xander! Bet I can outsell you today," he challenged, walking over to the tall Australian.

1-2-3-4-5

Evening arrived in Briarwood and as the sky made the transition from bright blue to an orange colour, Charlie walked through the city. Her stomach growled, demanding food, but she ignored it, choosing to patrol the city instead.

As she walked down a flight of steps to a lower level, she considered doing as her father requested and hiding out, but quickly dismissed it. She wasn't a coward. She had been given the power to protect not only herself but the city, and she was going to use them. She didn't care if the entire Underworld was after her for her powers. She would go down fighting if necessary.

Charlie stopped in front of a window, looking at her reflection. She brushed some of her hair down so it covered her ears again, and turned to continue walking, before stopping as she found Xander in front of her.

"You just can't stay away, can you?" a wry smile appeared on Charlie's face as she started walking again.

"How can I? You're in danger. Imperious and his freaks want your powers. Whether it's to destroy you or make you fight for them, it's not good," Xander walked with her, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Not good for you anyway," Charlie replied. "If I was destroyed, there'd be no-one to save your ass if your sparkly new friend gets taken out," she shrugged lightly. "And if I fought for them, I'd wipe you out."

"Oh, really?" Xander stopped her, an eyebrow raised.

"Really. You've barely even begun to harness the magic you fight with. I've been training since I could walk," Charlie replied arrogantly.

"So why not join the team?" Xander pressed the matter, and Charlie rolled her eyes, starting to walk again. "You've already helped us out before-"

"And I told you not to take it like that. I just couldn't watch you tarnish the Mystic name by getting beaten," the silver ranger just shrugged.

"What if it happens again?" Xander's words made Charlie frown. They both knew that if it did, she'd be right back there to help them. And she wasn't entirely sure why. "You're supposed to be part of our team so we can help each other," the green ranger insisted, but Charlie's jaw just clenched and she stared ahead. "Why not try it out, even just once?" Xander suggested hopefully.

"No," Charlie's voice was softer this time. "I'm sorry," the words were out of her mouth before she realised. She looked up at the disappointed look on Xander's face, before she ran off. "If I joined you...you'd just get hurt trying to protect me..." Charlie whispered to herself as she left the Green Ranger behind.

"Real nice Xander. That's four times you've lost her," Xander grumbled to himself. "So much for your 'charm'..." he sighed, before heading home as his own stomach growled.

1-2-3-4-5

Fireheart stared up at Vincent, gurgling as the Gold Ranger laughed, fascinated by the dragon in Claire's arms.

"I honestly never expected a baby dragon to act like that," he admitted as Claire rocked Fireheart.

"What did you expect?" she asked, looking up.

"Plundered villages, trees on fire, overall mayhem," Claire laughed and Vincent grinned back sheepishly.

"He's just a baby!"

"So I can expect that when he's not a baby?" Vincent's words made Claire laugh even more, and Fireheart gurgled again before she fed him some milk.

"No, he's a good dragon," she insisted.

"Yeah well, that's what Hagrid said before Norbert set fire to his beard," Vincent muttered to Vida and Chip, who burst out laughing as Claire looked confused.

"Still no word from your sister?" Nick asked, sitting on the table as Maddie read, somehow focusing despite the laughter.

"I called earlier, they're going to the beach today," Vincent shrugged. "Said she'd be back if we needed her," he added, and Nick shook his head. "So, you met Charlie again yesterday?" he then looked to Xander.

"Still nothing. Maybe Electra's off about this one," he shrugged.

"Nah. Electra's got experience with this stuff. She knows what she's on about," Vida insisted. They all wanted Charlie to join them. Not only because she was a powerful Ranger.

"I guess we just have to wait," Nick shrugged, but he didn't look too happy about it.

1-2-3-4-5

Charlie let out a yawn as she tied her hair back up with the green ribbon, taking care to cover her ears again. She didn't know what she was doing, but she enjoyed walking around Briarwood regardless. After growing up in the Magical Realm with only a few visits to the city that was on its borders, Charlie couldn't help but find herself fascinated by the bustling city.

A couple of people shot the strange half-human curious looks as she walked past, but she ignored them and continued walking.

Her mind wandered to her conversation with Xander the previous evening, and she frowned a little. She didn't know what it was about the strange sounding Ranger, but he was swaying her. There was a part of her that wanted to join the team that fought with all that had to protect both realms. There was still confusion in her about the black Ranger who had shown concern for her when a monster had attacked.

Charlie's ears pricked when screams reached her, and she looked up to see civilians fleeing in the opposite direction.

"Speaking of monsters," she muttered, running in the direction that the monster was scaring off people.

"So my master was right!" the monster spotted Charlie as she stopped nearby. "You do show up when people are in danger. You're just like the other Rangers, and that makes you predictable!" he shot at her, and Charlie tensed. At the last minute, she jumped up, a hand pressing into his head, allowing her to push off and flip through the air. The monster ran straight into a wall as Charlie landed gently.

"You should also take into consideration that I know how to fight," Charlie replied. "I won't be going with you," she told him, putting a hand to the morpher strapped to her arm. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed and drew her Magi Staff, and ran at him as the monster recovered and turned to attack again. His attack was stopped by her Staff.

"You can't beat me alone!" more arms appeared from behind the monster's back and each slammed into Charlie. She was thrown back with a cry, crashing to the ground as her Magi Staff clattered nearby. "I am far more powerful!"

"Don't flatter yourself," Charlie groaned as she pushed herself up. The arms flew towards her again, but this time she was ready. Charlie dodged, grabbing her Magi Staff again and swinging up. The monster shrieked as she cut through one of the extra arms, destroying it.

"You'll regret that!" he warned, and Charlie's eyes widened as two more arms appeared in its place. She leapt up into the air to avoid them, but they followed her up, and wrapped around her tightly. Charlie let out a cry as they restrained her tightly, slowly crushing her and forcing the air from her lungs.

"Magi Staff!" Nick appeared and cut down the monster's side, forcing him to release Charlie. She fell through the air before Daggeron caught her, and set her down.

"Are you ok?" he asked, and she nodded, feeling oxygen return to her lungs.

"Yeah, thanks," she nodded, before looking around as the hands slammed into Daggeron and Nick.

"Stay out of this, posers!" the monster yelled, and the arms flew back at Charlie, but before they reached her, Xander appeared, standing in the way and blocking them with his Magi Staff.

"Can't do that now!" he yelled as he was slowly pushed backwards. The pressure was removed when Vincent and Chip attacked, hitting the monster.

"Don't cut off his arms! Two grow in its place!" Charlie warned as she saw Nick switch his Magi Staff to its sword mode.

"This is going to be fun..." Vida commented, before a blur slammed into the monster and floored him. Electra landed, smirking as the hands retracted.

"It always is," she replied, and the other Rangers stared at her. She wore a pair of shorts and a vest, but no shoes, and she was soaking wet.

"Uh...what happened to you?" Nick asked, and Electra's smirk dropped.

"My lovely boyfriend and his brother take great delight in throwing me into the sea _every_ time we go to the beach," she muttered, a trace of a blush across her face. She pushed her damp fringe from her face, and flipped open the morpher she held in her hand. "Let's take this guy!" she called as he recovered. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed and immediately shivered. "Oh, like the spandex wasn't uncomfortable enough..." Electra groaned, but drew her Magi Staff regardless.

"I don't care how many of you there are! You're all going down!" the monster yelled, shooting his arms out again. Each Ranger blocked a fist that shot at them.

"So who's taking care of this guy?" Vincent grunted as he was pushed back.

"I can handle it!" Charlie called, but as she went to push ahead, the fist blocking her slammed her back again.

"You don't have to do it alone!" Electra called as she dug her heels in. "It's alright to rely on us. That's what we're here for. Whether you like it or not, we're a team, and you're part of that team!"

"She's right!" Maddie called as she was pushed back even farther.

"You're one of us already, let us help!" Nick shouted as he fought the pressure and managed to take a step forwards. Charlie stared at them with wide eyes, before letting out a soft laugh.

"Alright, if you think you can handle it!" she called back.

"Nick, you got this!" Vida cheered, and Nick leapt into the air, pushing away from the attack.

"Power of the Phoenix!" he called as flames surrounded him. He then flew towards the monster, who attempted to stop him by hurling all of his hands at the Red Ranger, but they were burned and moved past with little effort. Nick collided with the monster, and leapt away as the monster cried out and collapsed, exploding.

"Nice work," Daggeron told Nick as the red ranger landed again. He grinned under his helmet, nodding, before the monster reassembled and started to grow.

"We've got this!" Nick turned and looked to the others.

"Let me help," Charlie told him, looking down at her morpher as a couple of the buttons glowed.

"She's got a new spell code," Xander commented.

"If you help us, you're part of the team, you know that right?" Nick asked, and Charlie nodded. "Great! Then lets go!" they drew their morphers and activated their magic to transform into their Titan modes. Charlie hit the glowing buttons on her morpher and started growing, taking on the form of a humanoid titan with white wings.

"Hey, over here!" Electra moved first, distracting the monster. She darted to the side, away from the other Rangers, and fired an attack that stunned him.

"You may have beaten me once, but not again!" he recovered and sent the arms flying at Electra, who blocked. They slammed into her, and she was thrown backwards with a grunt.

"Now!" Nick called, and the others took advantage of the monsters distraction. They all rushed him, landing blows that made him cry out.

"End it!" Electra yelled as she, Maddie and Vincent managed to grab all the arms and hold them, preventing the monster from attacking the rest of them. Vida transformed into a ball, which Xander then hit with his axe, throwing it straight to Chip, who caught it. With a quick spin, he tossed it to Nick, who kicked it to Charlie. She started glowing silver, before flying into the air. She slammed a hand into the ball, hurtling it back down towards the monster. It slammed into him, and the silver aura surrounded the monster as Vida returned to normal and flew away.

"No...this isn't the end!" the monster shrieked, but collapsed and exploded once again as the silver light faded. The Rangers cheered, looking to Charlie as she watched the last of the monster disappear.

1-2-3-4-5

"This place is getting more crowded by the day," Vida commented to Electra as they watched the bustle of activity in Rootcore. Daggeron and Udonna were off discussing important matters, leaving the other Rangers. Vincent was standing with Claire, who was still carrying Fireheart. Xander, Nick, Madison and Chip were talking to Charlie, eager to find out anything and everything about her.

"Poor Charlie," Electra snickered. "We are a nosy lot, aren't we?" she watched as Charlie looked a little overwhelmed by their questions.

"A little, yeah," Vida laughed in agreement.

"So Vida, what do you say to a little wager?" Electra's smirk widened as she focused her gaze on Xander, who changed to topic to the other Rangers to give Charlie a break.

"You're on," Vida spoke as she followed Electra's gaze. "Loser buys dinner for a week," she spoke, and Electra's smirk widened. She liked the sound of that. "My money's on Xander," Vida decided.

"No way. It's going to be Charlie," Vida turned to stare incredulously at her, before shaking her hand.

"You do know Xander right? The self-professed ladies man?" she reminded Electra, whose grin didn't falter. "Easiest free dinner ever..." the Pink Ranger commented.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Vida," was all Electra said as she jumped from the table and went to join the others.

**I was gonna wait until I'd finished Light Source to update again, but a friend is coming over tomorrow and then I'm going out for my birthday on Saturday so I figured I may as well update now!**

**Hope you liked it!**


	17. Clash of Night and Day

Chapter 17: Clash of Night and Day

The sniggers of Vincent and Chip were all that could be heard in the forest outside of Rootcore, in the area that Electra preferred to train the other Rangers. Udonna and Daggeron stood nearby, watching. Udonna had a slight smile on her face, while Daggeron just looked confused.

"The whole point of the Swoop technique, is to stop relying only on sight," Electra told them as Xander stood in the middle of the circle with a blindfold over his eyes. Charlie looked very confused as well. "We have four other senses, and you need to learn how to use them as well," using a long stick she had found, Electra hit the sniggering rangers with a sharp thud.

"I have a question," Xander spoke up as they rubbed where bruises were sure to form. "Why is it always me?" he complained, going to move the blindfold.

"Because," Electra slapped his hand away with the stick. "I feel like it," she looked to Charlie, and nodded. "You have to detect the hit, and block it," she instructed Xander, who nodded.

"No problem!" he grinned. Electra rolled her eyes. Charlie walked forwards, not making a sound, and stood in front of Xander. His grin hadn't even completely faded before he was sprawled out on the ground after Charlie delivered a sweeping kick that knocked his legs out from under him.

"No problem, huh?" Xander pulled off the blindfold as Charlie stood over him, trying not to laugh. The other Rangers were not so kind. They burst out laughing, and each received a slap from the stick as Charlie pulled Xander back to his feet. Since she had joined the team, Charlie had gained a uniform like theirs, with silver in place of the colours they had.

"What kind of teacher hits their students?" Nick complained as he rubbed the back of his head.

"The kind that won't tolerate laughing at fellow students," Electra replied. "Practise makes perfect, especially with this technique. Remember, it took a long time for me to master it," she told Xander as she noticed his embarrassed expression.

"Then how do you expect-"

"I don't expect you to master it, but once you start to learn it, you'll see how it helps in battle," Electra told them as Nick looked confused. "Ok, Chip, you next," she looked to the yellow Ranger, whose jaw dropped. Vincent stifled his laughter as Xander passed him the blindfold, smiling innocently.

"Why me? Vincent was laughing just as much," Chip complained.

"Vincent's practised it before," Electra slapped him with the stick, making Chip jump before reluctantly putting the blindfold on. Electra shot a warning look to the other Rangers as they started giggling, and they quickly shut up.

"Nice move," Xander muttered to Charlie, who flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"Wasn't difficult. Used to practising on stationary targets," Xander went red as she smirked. Electra gestured to Vincent, and then Nick, to attack. Both frowned, but did so. Vincent took a step forwards, and a twig snapped. Chip's head turned a little as he heard it, before the pair shot at Chip. Before long, the yellow Ranger was face down in the leaves.

"That was two on one!" Chip complained as he pulled off the blindfold.

"I never said it was one-on-one. Consider the Hidiacs. There are usually at least 5 per one of us," Electra reminded him, and Chip fell silent, knowing that she was right.

Soon enough, the other Rangers had gone through the same. All but Vincent had gone down straight away, but one silent hit from Charlie had downed him. "Alright guys, that's enough," Electra decided, taking the blindfold from her brother. "We'll try again tomorrow," she told them, before Daggeron spoke up.

"Actually," they all looked over at him as he walked over to them. "Udonna and I have been discussing it, and it has been decided that I am to take over as your teacher," Daggeron announced, and Electra's eyes widened slightly.

"Ok..." she managed to say, looking down as she looked a little confused. The other Rangers looked to her, silent. "Can I ask why?" Electra snapped out of her shock and lifted her head.

"I feel I would be better suited to the job. I have more experience in the matter," Daggeron told her.

"More experience? You've been stuck in a cave – as a _frog –_ for the last twenty years," Electra let out a laugh. "I'm not new to this. I've been teaching Pai Zhuq for over a year now," she told him.

"Your style is strange and not conventional, not the way the Mystics have trained before," Daggeron replied, and Vincent quirked an eyebrow, folding his arms. "And the manner in which you teach is just as bizarre, and almost basic, if not ineffective," Electra's eyes widened and her fists clenched tightly.

"Hey, Electra's been a great teacher," Xander defended, stepping forwards as he frowned.

"Training is important and should be taken seriously," Daggeron replied, not even looking at him.

"I agree," Electra's voice was tight, showing that she was close to losing her temper, which never ended well. "But I feel it sinks in better if you're enjoying the lesson," she said.

"Your idea of 'fun' has the other Rangers not paying attention. It takes longer to get around to actually training, meaning it takes longer to learn," Daggeron shook his head, and the others watched uncomfortably. "This is not up for debate. You may know what you are doing, but I expect you to join in on the lessons that I teach," he instructed, power filling his voice to indicate that he was very serious.

"So let me get this straight," the other Rangers gulped, knowing that this wasn't going to be pretty. "You show up, and decide to take over training. You insult my methods, and then expect me to follow your way without complaint?" Electra's eyes were blazing with her fury.

"Electra," Udonna warned in a low voice as Electra stared down Daggeron, whose expression was flat.

"No. I'm not going to stand here and be insulted by some guy who doesn't even know me!" Electra finally snapped. She turned away, and the others around her quickly stepped back. "Call me if you need my help. But since you have your new teacher, I doubt that'll happen!" Electra exclaimed, and disappeared in a flash of black and crimson.

"Does she do that a lot?" Charlie asked.

"What? Freak out, or disappear?" Xander muttered back.

"Both...I guess..." Charlie shrugged as they watched Daggeron walk off, looking annoyed as well.

"The second, way too often," Vincent breathed, his eyes slightly narrowed. "The first...well...that's a different story," he looked to the other Rangers, who looked just as worried as he felt.

1-2-3-4-5

"Dude...you really need to stop finding a Ranger to fight with," Hunter commented as Electra finished telling him what had happened. They sat on the beach of Blue Bay Harbour, with Electra having pulled her legs in close.

"He's a jerk..." Electra muttered, glaring out at the sea. "He insulted my teaching methods..." she pulled her legs in tighter. "I'd like to stick him in a cave for another 20 years," her words made Hunter laugh. He leaned into her, and she let out a frustrated huff.

"So what now?" Hunter asked as Electra rested her head on his shoulder.

"I dunno. I know I got carried away back there...but urgh," Electra groaned and moved so her face was pressed into his chest. They fell back in the sand, and even Electra couldn't help but laugh. "I need to stop freaking out, huh?" she looked up at her boyfriend.

"_Finally _she realises it," Hunter's head fell back in the sand, and he flinched as Electra's fist slammed down on his chest.

"You're a jerk," Electra muttered, going red as she pushed herself into an upright position.

"Hey, you're the one who said it," Hunter sat up as well, rubbing his chest before wrapping his arms around her.

"Don't worry, you're my jerk," Electra pulled him down into a kiss.

"Oh, so I belong to you now?" Hunter asked as he broke it. Electra just rolled her eyes. "I think I could get used to that..." he leaned down and resumed the kiss, falling back down into the sand and maintaining his grip around Electra.

Until freezing cold water splashed over the pair, making them cry out.

"This is a public place," Letha scolded as Tori, Dustin and Shane laughed hysterically, all of them carrying buckets.

"There's nobody around..." Electra glanced around the empty beach before narrowing her eyes at her best friend, shivering violently. "Which means there's nobody around to witness your death!" Letha screamed and ran off down the beach as Electra chased her.

"Did that new Ranger dude seriously diss her teaching methods?" Dustin asked Hunter as they watched the two.

"That's so cold man," Shane nodded. Since the rest of the Rangers knew, Electra had told Shane, who had mocked her just as much as they had.

"You got that right," Hunter frowned as Electra gained on Letha, who was laughing loudly. "He's some Knight who knew their teacher back when they last fought," he said, having heard bits of who Daggeron was.

"Still...just cause he's older doesn't mean he's better," Tori frowned.

"But wiser...maybe," Shane chuckled as Electra finally caught up to her best friend. She lifted the smaller girl into the air, and proceeded to throw her into the ocean.

"Didn't stop Dustin becoming a Sensei," Tori smirked.

"Hey..." the Earth Ninja frowned at the ex-blue Ranger as they laughed.

"Dustin!" Letha ran back up the beach, soaking wet as she hid behind her boyfriend.

"I think she uses you more as a meat-shield than anything else," Electra commented, reaching them as well. Letha stuck her tongue out at the master, who just winked back. "You guys are asshats by the way. You're lucky I left my morpher in my bag," she looked to the others, who grinned back.

"Those things have got to be waterproof," Shane dismissed it, and dumped the bucket he was still holding on Dustin's head.

"I'd rather not take the risk," Electra laughed lightly, thinking back to Chip admitting that his greatest fear was his mother washing his morpher, causing his suit to become really small.

"I could have done without it as well," Hunter pushed his hair from his eyes and put an arm around Electra's waist.

"And risk children seeing what we witnessed?" Letha asked in mock horror.

"Hey, a kid did see. Dustin was right there," Shane smirked as he noticed that Dustin was still wearing the bucket as a helmet.

"Come on man..." Dustin whined, and Shane yelped and jumped back as Letha kicked him, and stuck out her tongue.

"You really want to start that Letha?" the ex-red ranger asked as he rubbed his leg. Letha just smirked in response to his challenge, and the others stepped away as they started mock-fighting, showing off their moves.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the ex-defenders of the universe," Electra spoke with a laugh as they watched the two. As she leaned into Hunter, she was glad they were there. They were idiots sometimes, but they always cheered her up.

"Electra," so much for cheering up. Electra tensed up as the others looked around.

"I have nothing to say to you Daggeron," Electra turned around to view the Knight, who was surveying her wet clothes. Shane and Letha noticed the newcomer and stopped sparring, walking over to stand with the others. Daggeron watched them, curious. There was something familiar about them all. The way they carried themselves was powerful, and similar to how the Mystic Rangers did. Only theirs held more experience.

"Electra, you're acting like a child," Daggeron warned, and looked at Dustin, who still had the bucket on his head. He quickly pulled it off, frowning.

"Back off," Hunter's growl took him by surprise, and the Solaris Knight's gaze turned to the thunder ninja next. He'd not encountered him, yet he could see how defensive he was of Electra immediately. His eyes settled on the thread of light that seemed to connect them, and his eyes narrowed very slightly.

"Hunter..." Electra put a gentle hand on his chest, shaking her head. "Daggeron, you don't get it. I'm not inexperienced. I know what I'm doing," she told him firmly, and it clicked in place for him. Those around her, who were watching him with wary expressions, were past Rangers. Being a Power Ranger wasn't a first for her.

"Experience has nothing to do with it. You just lack the skills needed to-"

"I'd recommend you don't finish that sentence," Shane interrupted him. "You see, Letha here looks small, but she would destroy you in a heartbeat for insulting her best friend," he gestured to Letha, who had only barely managed to contain herself, and that was with Dustin was holding onto her.

"Can't forget Hunter. You know, the dark and brooding guy who looks like he wants to rip your head off?" Dustin offered, gesturing to him.

"And you can't forget us either," Tori nodded, folding her arms. Daggeron studied each of them, all of them powerful in their own way. Each very loyal and protective towards each other.

"Electra, you have a commitment in Briarwood that you can't just abandon because of this tantrum," Daggeron didn't respond to the Ninjas, and focused his gaze back on Electra.

"I'm not abandoning it. The others can call me back any-time there's a problem. It's not like I'm out of reach," Electra replied coolly. Daggeron couldn't believe how flippant she was being about the whole matter of the world being under threat.

"Fine. If you think what you're doing isn't running away from responsibility, by all means, continue," Daggeron frowned, and snapped his fingers, disappearing in a flash of gold light.

"Jackass. I told you he was a jerk," Electra looked up at Hunter, whose grip around her waist tightened in response.

"Dude, did he just use magic? Like, real magic?" Dustin asked, unable to contain his excitement. The tense mood immediately shifted and they started laughing.

"Not like Electra can teleport anywhere she wants," Shane laughed as Dustin went red.

"Come on, I wanted to get into the water before this swell calms down," Tori told the others, and raced off to change into her wetsuit as the others followed at a much slower pace.

1-2-3-4-5

Daggeron returned to Rootcore, irritated at Electra's behaviour.

"Any luck?" Udonna asked as she noticed his return. The others looked up from pretending to study their incantations and watched curiously as the Knight stormed past.

"She's behaving like a child!" he fumed. "Why didn't you tell me that she had been a Ranger before?" Daggeron asked, and they all froze as he looked around at them sharply.

"She has?" Charlie asked curiously, looking to Madison, who sat beside her.

"It's not our place to talk about Electra's past," Nick stood up and turned to the Knight, who looked around. "If she felt it was important, she would have said something."

"How'd you figure it out?" Vincent's voice was a little softer.

"Her friends," Daggeron managed to compose himself. "It was easy enough to see that they were once Rangers," Vincent's eyes widened a little. He shook his head, knowing that the strict Knight had probably only succeeded in making things worse.

"This is getting ridiculous," Nick shook his head, frustrated. "Vincent, you talk to Electra, try to get her to at least come back to Briarwood," he took charge, turning to gold Ranger.

"On it," Vincent pulled out his phone and moved away from the others to make the call.

"You know how stubborn Electra is," Maddie spoke softly to Nick, glancing up at Daggeron. "She's not going to join in training," she pointed out.

"I don't care about that," Nick replied. "What I care about is getting our friend back into this city. She is part of this team and we need her," he spoke, and the others nodded.

"She said she'll be back tonight," Vincent announced as he walked back over.

"How'd you manage that?" Charlie blinked up at him, folding her arms.

"There was some pleading, and some threatening," Vincent smirked. "The whole reason she's staying in Briarwood is to keep an eye on me-"

"For good reason," Xander grinned, and Vincent attempted to look innocent, but failed miserably.

"So I just pointed that out. I told her she doesn't have to go to training with Daggeron, and that seemed to sway her even more," Vincent chuckled lightly. "She's already a skilled fighter, all she needs to do is keep on top of her own practise," he dismissed it lightly, before the globe behind them chimed.

"Looks like we're going to have to call her back sooner," Nick turned to survey a monkey-like monster running wild in the city.

"No," Daggeron's voice took them all by surprise.

"Daggeron..." Udonna started as he walked down the stairs.

"She told us to call if we needed her," Daggeron stated simply. "Let's go," the Rangers frowned, but followed him out of Rootcore.

1-2-3-4-5

"Who knew destroying a city could be this much fun!" the monkey monster laughed as he leapt up onto a lamppost, snapping it as he swung from it.

"We're sorry to spoil your fun!" Nick yelled as he leapt through the air, swinging his Magi Staff. However, the monster looked up at the last moment and leapt out of the way.

"Spoil it? You just made it more fun!" he laughed, and spun to the right to avoid Chip and Vida's attacks. "Let's play a game! It's called, 'catch me if you can'!" the monster then jumped backwards to avoid Charlie's attack, and planted a powerful kick to her chest that knocked her through the air. She crashed to the ground, and Xander stepped forwards.

"Let's try a little vine power then!" he held up his Magi Staff, casting a spell to send vines straight at the monster. However, he dodged them and caught one with a furry hand. Using them as leverage, the monster let out another laugh and hurled himself through the air, colliding with Xander.

"This guy is fast..." Vincent hissed as he called on his own Magi Staff. "Thunder Power!" he called, slamming it to the ground. The sonic boom slammed into the monkey, making him cry out as he was thrown backwards.

"That was just mean!" the monkey was back on his feet in an instant. He grabbed Madison and threw her into the Gold Ranger, and both cried out as they toppled to the ground.

"Why don't you try me?" Daggeron stepped forwards, carrying Jenji's lamp. He spun the dial at the side and fired several lights at the monster. He laughed and started moving erratically, so only one of the attacks clipped his shoulder.

"Ow! Good thing I dodged those slow things!" the monster laughed as Daggeron frowned. He ran at him, and started fighting him off, but barely matched the speed that the monster was moving at.

"I think we need Electra now," Nick muttered, pulling out his morpher and flipping it open.

"_Let me guess. You need me_," there was an almost amused tone to Electra's voice.

"What gave it away?" Nick looked up as Daggeron was knocked back. "Just get here quickly," he called as the monster started to laugh again.

"'Get here quickly'. It is me you're talking to," Electra reminded him with a smirk as she appeared through a portal.

"Oh yay! A new playmate!" the monster cheered.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" Electra morphed and called on the Mystic Slicer. "I'll show you what this new playmate can do!" she called as she twirled it.

"Be careful, he's fast," Vida warned as she pushed herself up.

"Yeah? So am I," Electra raced towards the monkey, who just barely dodged her attack. "Oh, you are fast," Electra commented, and dodged the monster's kick.

"Looks like you're going to be fun!" he exclaimed, before crying out as Electra's blade ran up his chest. Daggeron watched as Electra spun and dodged in ways that the Mystics had never thought to practice.

"You guys going to sit and watch, or help?" Electra asked as she leapt up, avoiding his next attack. She flipped, placing a hand on his head where she balanced for a split second before pushing off. The monster stumbled as Electra flipped through the air, where she swung her Mystic Slicer and sent a blast of energy to hit him from behind. Daggeron got back to his feet and got in close, attacking the dazed monster.

"Come on guys!" Nick shouted to the others as he got back to his feet.

"Electra, I am sorry for criticising your style of fighting," Daggeron spoke as Electra landed beside him. She quirked an eyebrow under her helmet. "I am not used to seeing different styles, and something like the technique you were teaching earlier seemed like it wouldn't be necessary for many battles," he admitted.

"It is different, but it's just as effective as the style you fight with," Electra told him, before swinging her blade up without looking. The monster cried out as it connected, and fell back. "So is the Swoop technique," she grinned, and Daggeron blinked several times. The monkey had gotten close without him noticing. "I'm sorry too, for bringing up the whole cave thing and saying you weren't experienced. I have a bad habit of losing my temper easily," Electra shrugged. "Now, enough of this, we have a monster to deal with," she looked down at the monster as the other Rangers ran over.

"You're right!" Daggeron nodded, and lifted the lamp.

"It's not over...yet..." the monster groaned, having taken several powerful hits.

"Yes, it is," Daggeron replied as he started spinning the dial again. "Jenji's Shining Attack!" he fired at the monster and Jenji flew from the lamp, lashing out at the monster several times before finishing it off.

"So is everything good now?" Vincent asked warily as he looked between the two.

"I guess," Electra shrugged, and turned to her brother. He gulped as he felt the heat of her glare, despite her face being covered by her helmet. "You better be focusing on getting your stripes, or you will be sleeping on the streets," she warned, and walked off as he laughed nervously.

"Just what did you threaten to do?" Nick turned to look at Vincent.

"Uh...that I was going to join a circus and use my skills to attract an audience..." he mumbled. The rest of the group shook their heads at how ridiculous the Gold Ranger could be.

1-2-3-4-5

"So you're just going to let him take over training?" Charlie asked Electra as they walked through Briarwood. Charlie had moved in with Electra and Vincent shortly after joining them, at Electra's insistence. Since her home in the woods had been destroyed, she didn't have anywhere else to stay.

"I haven't got much choice," Electra shrugged. "He's adamant that he'll be a better teacher. He probably will be," she sighed, and Charlie frowned.

"That's not true," she said, making the black Ranger glance at her. "I liked your lessons," Charlie admitted, going red and looking away. "I really wanted to learn that technique...the Swoop one," she muttered, and Electra smiled.

"I can still teach you it if you want," she offered. Charlie looked back up at her. "Just don't tell Daggeron," Electra smirked, making Charlie laugh and nod. "Now come on, let's go get some food," she turned down another street, and Charlie followed as her stomach growled loudly.

1-2-3-4-5

"Hey bro!" Hunter looked around at his brother as he finally arrived. The other thunder ninja looked around, slight confusion joining his smile. "I thought Electra was in town?" Blake asked curiously.

"Another attack in Briarwood, so she headed back," Hunter slapped his brother's hand in greeting. "Plus her brother threatened to like, join a circus or something and forget becoming a master if she didn't," Blake started laughing.

"Life's never dull around her," Blake shook his head, and Hunter nodded in agreement. "Let's go," they started walking to the track, only for dark clouds to gather overhead. "What's that all about?" Blake asked, but Hunter shrugged.

"No idea. But I don't like the look of it," he commented, looking around warily.

"Dude, what is that?" Blake gestured to a bright blue spell seal that appeared on the ground. Hunter glanced around and grabbed his brother, pulling him back.

"Well, how about that for a greeting?" Imperious asked as he emerged from it to find the two in fighting stances. "Well, at least you didn't just run away. That would be boring," he commented as he surveyed them.

"Who is this freak?" the ex-navy Ranger stared at the mummy-like monster.

"My guess, Imperious," Hunter growled.

"Oh my, I'm famous!" Imperious exclaimed. "Of course, someone so close to that meddling black ranger would know," he laughed, waving his fan in his face.

"Bro...I don't like this," Blake glanced to his brother, who looked just as cautious.

"Well too bad!" Imperious waved his fan, and attacked them, knocking them off their feet. "Because you both will make the perfect bait to get those powers!" he announced as they glared up at him.

"Yeah...I really don't like this..." Blake groaned as the mummy laughed.

**It's scaring me how well the soundtrack for Doki Doki Pretty Cure fits with my writing...I'm a little addicted to the soundtrack...**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy! Hehehehehe...**


	18. Corrupted Thunder

Chapter 18: Corrupted Thunder

Charlie emerged from her new bedroom, brushing her hair as she heard the front door slam. Electra sat with a book as she ate her breakfast, before looking up at Charlie with a small smile. The newest Ranger frowned as she noticed how tired she looked.

"Did you sleep?" Charlie asked as she got a bowl from the cupboard and poured cereal into it.

"Nope," Electra shook her head, and yawned as if to emphasize this. "I've had this bad feeling all night," she admitted as she shut her book.

"Bad feeling? What about?" Charlie sat down opposite her, watching her curiously as Electra ran a hand through her messy hair.

"I don't know," the master confessed. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. You cool going to Rock Porium?" she asked, shaking her head. Charlie nodded, and tied up her hair. "You tie your hair up, but you always keep your ears covers. Why is that?" Electra asked as Charlie paused.

"They...they're different from humans," she admitted, and Electra folded her arms. "You knew? Did Xander tell you?" Charlie frowned as Electra didn't look surprised.

"I had my suspicions," Electra replied. "You told Xander?" Electra leaned forwards curiously as Charlie went red.

"Just that I'm only half human," she refused to look at Electra, who was smirking now. "Can you please stop looking at me like that?" Charlie demanded as her blushing grew. She put a hand to her face, trying to avoid looking at the black ranger, who laughed.

"Ok, ok," Electra raised her hands. "Once you're done there, we'll go," she stood up, and left the kitchen, still laughing to herself. Charlie shook her head and finished her breakfast, still blushing as she washed up and left the kitchen.

"Would you stop?!" she pleaded with Electra when she noticed the older girl's expression.

"One thing you need to learn about not only me, but the rest of the team," Electra spoke as she pulled on her hoody and clapped a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "We are merciless when it comes to teasing each other. Just wait till you see Claire and Vincent, or Chip and Vida. Then you'll be able to join in," Electra winked as they left the apartment.

"What about Maddie and Nick?" Electra paused for a moment while locking up.

"Uh...well that's awkward," Electra replied, shoving her keys into her pocket. "Since Maddie is still with Ben and all," she shrugged, and Charlie frowned slightly.

"Why is she still with him if she likes Nick?" she asked, and Electra sighed, shrugging lightly.

"Because she likes Ben too. I guess it's confusing for her," she replied, knowing that Maddie had been confused lately over her feelings. She could see it in Ben's face when he visited Rock Porium.

"You dated Ben before, didn't you?" Charlie asked another question. When Electra shot her a questioning look, Charlie looked sheepish. "Xander told me," she admitted, and Electra couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, we did. When we were like 15. I ended things when I realised I cared more about Pai Zhuq than him," she ran a hand through her hair as Charlie stared at her. She remained quiet for a moment as they left the building and started walking towards Rock Porium. Electra's fists were clenching and unclenching as they remained in silence. The bad feeling returned now that she wasn't so distracted, and felt worse than ever.

1-2-3-4-5

"Hey," Xander greeted Electra and Charlie as they walked into Rock Porium, his eyes immediately landing on Charlie. Electra smirked and kept walking through the music shop. She looked around and grinned to her brother, who was covered in price tags.

"Count Discount get to you?" she asked, and Vincent shot Chip a glare. The yellow Ranger was smiling innocently from where he was stacking magazines.

"Vincent wasn't the only one," Nick was peeling price tags off himself as he held the offending item that he had confiscated from Chip.

"He went on a bit of a rampage," Maddie was also peeling stickers off herself as Ben laughed beside her. When his dark eyes landed on Electra, she tensed and turned away. Charlie's works echoed in her head. She felt bad for ending things with Ben when he had still really cared about her, but it hadn't been fair on either of them to continue it.

"Whoa Electra, did you sleep at all last night?" Nick caught a closer look at Electra, who shook her head. "You alright?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"We'll find out," she told him, and the Red Ranger frowned. His frown only increased when Ben pulled a price tag from Maddie's hair, making her blush. Electra offered a sympathetic smile to Nick as she noticed, before there was a beeping that made her go cold. Nick looked at her sharply as she pulled her necklace out from under her shirt. The emergency communication device Cam had created for them.

"What is that?" Nick asked curiously, recognising the symbol as the one on Electra's arm. It was also the symbol of her Mystic powers.

"Whether I'm going to be alright or not," Electra practically ran out of the shop.

"What's up with her?" Xander and Charlie looked around at Nick, who looked blank.

Electra looked around as she left the shop, and when she was sure there was nobody around, she pressed the button to open communications.

"What's up?" she answered slowly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"_Someone trashed Ninja Ops last night_," Electra went cold.

"What? How?" she managed to say, her eyes wide. "But the only ones who can even get into there are us," it didn't make sense.

"_That's not all. The Thunder morphers are gone_," his words made Electra sink to the ground.

"Only the thunder morphers? Why?" she whispered. "Have you contacted the others?" Electra asked, not knowing what to do at all. It didn't make sense.

"_I did. Hunter and Blake aren't responding_," the bad feeling intensified as Electra put a hand to her mouth. "_I don't like the sound of this. I'll keep you updated when I find out more_," Cam told Electra, who couldn't bring herself to respond. When the communication ended, Electra managed to get to her feet.

"Electra? What's going on?" Xander looked outside, and found the black Ranger was very pale.

"I...I need to...get to Rootcore..." Electra's voice was dazed and she stumbled a little.

"Whoa," Xander caught her as Charlie looked out.

"Something's wrong," Electra looked up, her voice stronger but more frantic. No sooner had she spoken, did their morphers chime. Xander frowned as he let go of Electra to answer. Charlie stepped closer, studying Electra's face.

"_Rangers, there is powerful dark energy in the forest_," Udonna told them, and Xander looked up.

"Come on, we gotta find out what's going on," he told the two, and looked to Charlie. "Stay with her, I'll get the others," the silver ranger nodded, and Xander rushed inside to get the others.

"Guys, we gotta go now," he spoke in a low voice as he reached them. They looked confused, but nodded, and went to run out, before Ben caught Maddie's arm.

"Just what's going on? Why are you always running off?" he demanded as she looked around. Maddie bit her lip, trying to come up with an excuse. Ben's eyes moved to Nick as he went to speak, and the expression on his face stopped the red ranger from speaking.

"I'm sorry, we have to go," Maddie apologised, pulling her arm free. She took off with the others, and Nick frowned at Ben, who glared back, before he followed them out.

1-2-3-4-5

The group of Rangers ran through the portal and into the forest, switching from their normal clothes to their Mystic uniforms as they kept running. They looked around for any sign of a problem, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. However, they could all feel that there was something wrong.

"_Stop_!" Electra's yell came just before thunder boomed overhead. The ground exploded beneath them, and the Rangers all crashed the ground with cries.

"What the heck was that?" Vida groaned as she pushed herself up. She noticed Electra's pale face and horrified expression, staring up. Laughter filled the air, and they looked up to find Hunter and Blake standing in front of them in their ninja gear, arms folded.

"What the hell?" Nick demanded as they pushed themselves back to their feet, except for Electra, who had completely frozen. "What are you doing?" he asked, staring at the two ninjas.

"What's it look like?" Hunter looked bored.

"We're here to finish what those losers couldn't," Blake smirked.

"Electra, snap out of it," Charlie crouched beside the black Ranger and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know these guys better than anyone, we need you," she pleaded in a whisper, but Electra just lowered her head, and tears started to stream down her face.

"Aw, looks like the one who'd give us the most fun is out already bro," Blake angled his head to look at his brother, who just rolled his eyes.

"What happened to you guys?" Vincent asked.

"I don't think that's any of your business," Blake looked dismissive.

"It's Imperious..." Electra's voice was weak. "He's done something."

"Of course he has..." Vida growled, sensing the hostility from the two. "So what do you want?" she demanded, ready to fight if necessary.

"What we want? Didn't we say already?" Blake feigned confusion. "We're going to wipe you out. Except for those two," he gestured to Charlie and Electra.

"And what are you going to do with them?" Xander moved in front of them quickly, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Didn't ask man!" Blake just laughed it off.

"I've had enough of this talk," Hunter decided, his arms dropping to his sides. "Let's do this already," he told his brother, who nodded. The Mystic Rangers braced themselves, ready for a fight.

"Guys they have their morphers!" Electra's yell took them by surprise. Before the Rangers could react to this news, the thunder brothers stepped into action. Hunter shot forwards, and Xander stepped back as he stopped only inches away, blocked by Electra. The terrified expression was gone and Electra stared down her boyfriend. He let out a low growl, and grabbed her. Electra flinched at the strength behind it, before he threw her into a tree. She slammed into it with a cry, and sank to the ground.

"Come on man, don't break her!" Blake complained, but didn't look too concerned. He then ran at the group as well, and fighting broke out. It didn't last long. With Hunter and Blake's much greater experience and power, the Mystic Rangers were on the ground within moments.

"Guys, come on!" Nick yelled to them. "We can do this," he pushed himself up as the two brothers exchanged looks.

"Y'hear that?" Hunter scoffed.

"They think they can take us," Blake mocked, and looked to the Rangers. "You couldn't even land a single hit. What makes you think you can beat us? We're Ninjas. We've been training our whole lives! The only one who _might _have been able to take us, is taking a nap!" Blake indicated to Electra, who hadn't moved from where she lay by a tree.

"We're not down yet!" Vincent exclaimed, his fists clenched in his anger.

"Ready guys?" Nick yelled.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they morphed, and raced towards the two Ninjas.

"Well they just made this really boring," Hunter rolled his eyes and looked to Blake. "Ready?"

"Born ready!"

"THUNDER STORM, RANGER FORM, HA!" they morphed into their crimson and navy suits. They called on their thunder staffs, and met the Mystic Rangers head on. The Mystic Rangers put up more of a fight as their suits absorbed more damage. However, before long they were back on the ground, breathing heavily as Charlie fought off Blake, who had her in an arm lock.

"Let her go!" Xander forced himself back up and charged at Blake, holding his Magi Staff tightly.

"Not going to happen," Hunter intercepted and tripped Xander, pointing his staff at the green Ranger's chest. "You can't win this, so give up!" he growled.

"We don't give up!" Electra yelled moments before colliding with the crimson Ranger. They rolled along the ground, giving Xander the time to get up and run at Blake again. Before the younger thunder ninja could react, Electra's powers smacked him in the face, stunning him long enough for Xander's Magi Staff to hit him. Blake cried out, releasing Charlie as he hit the ground, and Xander grabbed the silver Ranger, pulling her away.

"You're going to regret that," Hunter struggled with Electra as the two continued to roll along the ground.

"We need to figure out how to snap them out of this!" Nick yelled as they got back to their feet.

"No!" Electra barked, before being thrown aside. "Run! Get back to Rootcore!" she ordered, and they hesitated before doing so, knowing they would be easily defeated. "Come on!" Electra grabbed Xander and Charlie as Blake recovered and attacked, before they disappeared.

1-2-3-4-5

Xander and Charlie staggered as they reappeared in Rootcore, taking Claire, Daggeron and Udonna by surprise. Daggeron had just been about to leave and join the fight. Electra held onto the pair until their vision stopped swimming, and as soon as they recovered, Charlie pulled away, demorphing.

"Never do that again," she told Electra, not having enjoyed the experience.

"I only do it in emergencies," Electra fished out her necklace, and opened the communication link.

"_Any news_?" Cam answered immediately, taking those around Electra by surprise. They hadn't known that she carried a communicator that linked her to anyone but them.

"Grab your morphers and get to Briarwood," Electra told him. "We're going to need as much help as possible."

As Electra filled Cam in on what happened, the other Rangers returned to Rootcore, all beaten and worn down from the fight. Electra glanced at them and moved off as they walked over to Xander and Charlie, who looked just as bad as the rest of them.

"What happened?" Daggeron questioned as he walked over.

"That's what I'd like to know," Vida growled. She didn't like how easily she'd been beaten. Or how they had just run away.

"From what I've gathered, Imperious has put some kind of spell on Hunter and Blake," Madison announced, and Udonna walked over, her eyes wide.

"This is grave news indeed..." the witch commented.

"They had their morphers too," Chip spoke as he examined a bruise that was already forming down his arm. "They hit hard..." he muttered, sore all over.

"They wanted Electra and Charlie," Vincent told the older Mystics, who exchanged looks.

"I get why they'd be after Charlie, they've been after her since she was revealed," Nick looked to the silver Ranger, who was fixing her hair. There was a bruise forming on her cheek where Blake had hit her. "But why Electra?"

"What I'd like to know, is why we just ran away from those guys," Vida slammed her fist into an open palm.

"Do you really think you could have taken them?" Electra's voice was cold as she walked back over, tucking her communicator back under her white shirt. "They had you guys beaten in under a minute," she reminded the pink Ranger.

"Doesn't mean that we should have just run away!" Vida exclaimed angrily. "I'm not a coward!"

"I never said you were!" Electra's yell took her by surprise. "Retreating isn't always a cowardly thing to do. Now we can regroup, get some information, and some help," she calmed her voice, but her eyes were still blazing.

"Help?" Xander asked curiously as Electra pushed her hair out of her face.

"The rest of the Ninja Storm team. We're going to need their help," she told them.

"Wait what?" Vincent straightened up. "Why'd you call them in? We don't need them," he growled stubbornly, and Electra turned to him.

"You don't understand how much danger we're in right now!" she exclaimed, effectively wiping the look off her brother's face. He could see how scared she was. "Hunter and Blake were the Shane, Tori, Dustin and Letha's greatest challenge. They didn't beat them _once_. Even when I helped out, we couldn't do anything to take them out," Electra slammed her fist onto the table she was leaning on. "These guys are some of the best I've ever seen. They've been training since they were little kids," she told them.

The others were silent as they processed this. "I'm going to go meet the others. Back soon," Electra disappeared.

"I don't get it. We've always fought guys stronger than us," Nick commented, folding his arms. "And she's always refused to give up, or let us give up. Why is she calling in backup now?" he asked.

"It's more than that," Madison's voice was soft. "They fought together. They had each others' backs for 2 years. Imagine if it were us, having to fight each other," the others exchanged looks as they knew she was right. They had only been Rangers for a few months, but they were close and relied on each other to have their backs. "Imagine it was someone you cared about," Madison added, her eyes on Nick for a moment longer than necessary, before she shook her head and looked away.

"Maddie's right," Nick spoke up, not taking his eyes off the now blushing blue Ranger. "So let's work with these guys and snap Hunter and Blake out of it," he told them determinedly, and they cheered in agreement. Udonna and Daggeron watched nearby, smiling at their determination.

1-2-3-4-5

Electra returned soon enough with her friends, ready to save Hunter and Blake.

"I've got an idea," Electra told them as the two groups stood together.

"Tell us," Vida nodded, determined to help.

"There should be a spell of some kind that could help break the seal that Imperious put on Hunter and Blake," Electra started as they gathered around. She blushed a little, not liking to be the centre of attention. "Maddie, you're the best with incantations and spells, so I want you to stay behind and figure it out," she looked to the blue Mystic Ranger, whose eyes widened.

"M-me?" Maddie looked nervous, until Udonna put a hand on her shoulder.

"I will assist you," she volunteered, and Maddie seemed to calm. Claire nodded as well, ready to help in any way she could.

"If anyone can figure it out, it's you Maddie," Nick smiled confidently at her, and Maddie smiled back.

"Yeah sis, you can do it!" Vida cheered, and the rest of them nodded.

"What will we be doing while she figures it out?" Tori asked, her worry for Blake clear. Electra looked to the water ninja, who wore her wind morpher once more.

"We'll split into two teams," Electra told them. "I need Xander in one team, and Letha in the other," her words made everyone look to the two named Rangers.

"Why?" Letha asked curiously.

"Because of your powers," the Black Ranger told her best friend, who looked at Xander as both looked confused. "Your Dino Powers, and Xander's ability to control vines will help to immobilise Hunter and Blake, when Maddie gets the spell," Madison's nerves returned as she heard how confident Electra was in her. Nick put a hand on her shoulder, grinning at her to help calm her nerves again.

"Ho-hold on a second, my powers aren't that great!" Xander protested as nerves filled him as well. "I can't hold onto one of them for very long," he insisted, but Electra just smiled softly at him.

"You can. You just gotta have faith in yourself," she told him, and Vincent clapped him on the shoulder.

"If Electra says you can, then you definitely can," he told Xander, whose frown remained as he felt uncertain. It was an important task and while he would normally insist that he could do it, it was a task that _couldn't _be messed up.

"Vincent's got a point. Electra's not normally so nice," Shane grinned, and Electra shot him a glare, going red.

"You can do it Xander," Charlie nodded with a smile, and Xander felt himself blushing as he looked to the smiling half-human. Chip and Vida shot amused smirks to each other.

"What about the rest of us?" Daggeron asked as he walked over, impressed by Electra's plan. He had been worried about their willingness to fight their friends.

"We use magic. While they're used to ninjas, they won't be used to our powers. We work together and take these guys down," Electra's voice was confident, but there was still worry in her eyes.

"It'll be nice to finally get those two back for the months of beatings we took," Shane grinned, only for Tori and Electra to punch his shoulders. "Ah! It was a joke!" he yelped, backing away from them and hiding behind Cam.

"He's got a point. Hunter and Blake wiped the floor with us back then," Dustin reminded them.

"Are they really that good?" Charlie asked curiously.

"They're definitely some of the best I've seen," Cam nodded seriously. "Of course, these three were flunkies when they first started out," he smirked as he looked to Shane, Dustin and Tori, and the three wind ninjas went red.

"Come on man, that was like, forever ago!" Dustin whined as Letha giggled from beside him.

"Yeah, we're way better now," Shane insisted.

"Well, Tori is," Letha commented. The water ninja had always been smarter than her two best friends. "So let's go! We've gotta knock some sense into those thunder idiots!" the white ninja ranger cheered.

"That we can do!" Nick grinned.

"There's one more thing," they all looked to Electra as she sat on the table behind her, her hands clasped together. "It's about why they want me, as well as Charlie," she glanced to the silver Ranger, whose eyes were wide. "When Imperious attacked here and imprisoned me, Udonna and Claire, he told me something," she admitted.

"That's why you acted so weird after we got there," Xander realised, having been wondering since Electra had pushed them all away and closed herself off from them.

"My Mystic Power is control over the darkness," Electra looked down at her hands again. "And that same darkness can be used to return the Master to full strength," she sighed. There was a brief moment of silence before Vincent spoke up.

"That ain't gonna happen," he grinned confidently. "You're way too stubborn to let it, and we're way too stubborn to let it happen as well," the rest of the Mystic Force Rangers nodded. The faint smile returned to Electra's face as she felt the slightest bit of relief.

1-2-3-4-5

"So how do we find these guys?" Chip asked as they walked through the forest, looking around.

"Don't worry, they'll find us," Cam replied as he looked around carefully.

"Electra's power will help though," Tori nodded from beside the Black Ranger, whose eyes were closed in her focus.

"This forest is so creepy..." Shane looked around as well, not liking how quiet it was around them. The trees towered over them and the leaves blocked out the majority of the sun, leaving them in pale light that made it seem even creepier.

"How do you think we feel? We have to go through here like all the time," Vincent grumbled.

"Just wait till Phineas pops up out of nowhere," Vida told the ninjas, who looked blank. "Knowing that anything could be hiding out there is freaky," she shivered.

"Hey, I grew up here," Charlie shot them glares as she walked beside Xander.

"You what?" Dustin turned his head to stare at the silver Ranger.

"Guys," Electra's hiss stopped them all dead, but as they fell into their fighting stances, the ground exploded below them.

"Well that's a greeting I never thought I'd miss," Shane groaned as he pushed himself up, spitting out leaves.

"Hey bro, looks like they brought in reinforcements," Blake smirked, standing a couple of metres away with Hunter.

"Of course they did," Hunter scoffed as he studied the two groups.

"This might make things a little more fun," Blake clapped his hands together.

"You guys ready?" Shane called. The Mystic Force Rangers drew their morphers, flipping them open.

"Ready!"

"NINJA STORM!"

"MONOCHROME STORM!"

"SAMURAI STORM!"

"RANGER FORM, HA!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Power of Air!"

"Earth!"

"Water!"

"Power of Light!"

"Green Samurai Power!"

"Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Dark as the night! Black Mystic Ranger!"

"Disruptive as thunder! Gold Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Sprited as the sky! Silver Mystic Ranger!"

"Power of the Sun! Solaris Knight!"

"Let's get this over with bro," Hunter looked to Blake, who nodded with a smirk, neither of them looking very worried about the two groups of Rangers in front of them.

"THUNDER STORM, RANGER FORM, HA!" the two morphed and drew their staffs.

"Come on guys, we gotta give Maddie time!" Vida called to the others, drawing her Magi Staff. "Wind Power!" she summoned her magic to create a pair of pink wings. They flapped several times, creating a powerful burst of wind that threw Hunter and Blake back.

"Let's go guys!" Shane called, and they ran at the two stunned Rangers.

"You're not going to win," Hunter spoke confidently as Electra's Mystic Slicer clashed with his staff.

"This time, we are," Electra pushed against him, before leaping back, giving Shane time to fire his hawk blaster, which slammed into the crimson ranger. He let out a growl as he got back up quickly, as if he hadn't even been hit, and flipped Vida when she got close. He then tripped Electra with a swift swing of his staff, before Letha got close and hit him several times. She leapt back as soon as she could, knowing that Hunter focused more on power than speed. Daggeron spun the dial on Jenji's lamp and fired several shots that collided with Hunter's chest and knocked him to the ground.

"I really hope Maddie finds something out soon," Nick grunted as Blake knocked him back, only for Dustin to pop up behind him and grab him, attempting to restrain him. The navy Ranger yelled out and managed to hurl Dustin over his head, straight into Xander.

"You and me both," Dustin groaned as he rolled onto his back. Cam ran at the thunder ninja next, intercepting the attack meant for Tori, and the two fought hand to hand as the samurai disarmed him.

The fighting continued with the two groups gaining the upper hand as they worked together, until a group of Hidiacs appeared to give the thunder ninjas some help.

"We'll handle these guys!" Nick drew his Magi Staff and nodded to Vida, Charlie, Chip and Vincent, and they ran to take out the footsoldiers that started to swarm.

"I've had enough of this! Crimson blaster!" Hunter drew his blaster and fired, hitting Daggeron, Letha and Electra. They struggled to try and get up, while Hunter and Shane focused on each other. Nearby, Blake caught Tori with his Navy Antlers and threw her into Cam this time, before attacking Xander.

"Guys! I got it!" Madison's voice reached the group, and they looked around to see her running towards them, already morphed. "All thanks to Udonna and Claire," she smiled under her helmet as the others got back to their feet.

"Let's do it!" Nick called as Vida finished off the last of the Hidiacs.

"Xander, Letha!" Electra called as she pushed herself back up. The two nodded, and while Xander drew his Magi Staff, Letha raised her hands.

"Just what have you got planned now?" Hunter asked as he knocked Shane back. Before he realised, Letha activated her Dino powers and froze him in place.

"Vine power!" Xander called on his power over nature and took control of vines that wrapped around Blake, restraining him and stopping him for hitting Dustin, who backed away.

"Now Maddie!" Vida called to her sister, who nodded as she held up her morpher. She began chanting the incantation, focusing hard and praying that she didn't mess it up.

"Let me go!" Blake thrashed about and snapped some of the vines holding him, but Xander continuously replaced any that looked like they were weakening. However it was doing a number on his energy to do so. Finally Maddie's spell shot at the brothers, splitting so that it hit both of them at once. They cried out as pale blue magic surrounded them, before they demorphed. The vines released Blake as Letha released Hunter, and the two crashed to the ground. Xander staggered, and both Charlie and Vincent caught him to stop him from falling.

"Told you you could do it," Charlie smiled up at him behind her helmet, and Xander nodded, going red again. They looked over as Tori rushed to Blake's side and Electra moved over to Hunter, both demorphing.

"Please...let it have worked..." Maddie whispered under her breath. The rest of the Rangers stood, ready if it didn't work.

Electra was certain that it had worked. The bad feeling that had been niggling at her all day was finally gone, but her head was telling her to wait until he woke up, just in case she was wrong. Her breath caught in her chest as Hunter's eyes opened, and he blinked several times up at her.

"What...happened?" he asked as he sat up, rubbing his head as Blake did the same.

"You don't remember?" Tori asked as she watched her boyfriend carefully.

"Nothing past when that mummy freak attacked us," he shook his head.

"Imperious..." Daggeron frowned. "Of course it was him," he muttered in irritation. Sure that they were back to normal, the rest of the group demorphed.

"What did happen?" Blake asked as he noticed this. "Where are we?" he looked to Tori, who just hugged him gently, ensuring that she didn't hurt him. Hunter wasn't so lucky as Electra practically tackled him in a hug, knocking him back down into the leaves.

"Hey, you're gonna kill me," he laughed lightly as she hugged him tightly, not moving as he managed to sit up again. "Considering I'm wearing my morpher again, I'm guessing it was bad," Hunter's gaze travelled to his wrist for a moment.

"You threw me into a tree," Electra frowned almost childishly as she finally released him. No sooner had she said those words, did he pull her back in again.

"You know Cam, we're the only ones in our team who haven't been turned evil," Letha commented to the green Ranger.

"That's true," the Samurai realised as the rest of them glanced at the white ranger.

"Really?" Electra stood up and pulled Hunter to his feet before turning to glare at Letha. "You just had to bring that up?" Letha just smiled innocently.

"Are you serious?" Nick looked to Shane and Dustin as they stood beside him.

"Lothor tricked us," Shane shrugged.

"He did look like Sensei," Dustin nodded as he remembered what had occurred almost two years ago.

"That's because they were twin brothers, remember?" Cam rolled his eyes.

"You guys and Tori did a real number on us," Letha pouted, and Dustin wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

"What about Electra?" Charlie asked, looking to their team-mate as she walked over.

"She was the scariest out of all of us," Dustin shivered as he remembered Electra when the darkness had taken over. Though she didn't say anything, Letha had to agree, and so did Cam. The others hadn't witnessed Electra at that time. She had been cruel, manipulative and sadistic, and not even Tommy Oliver had managed to take her down. The Mystic Force group looked very curious, except for Xander, who had known for a while about what had happened. Daggeron looked more wary than curious, and Electra didn't miss it.

"Let's not discuss that," Electra's voice was hard and gave no room for argument. Even though what had happened was beyond her control, she remembered every second of it and regretted it all.

"Yeah, let's just get out of here so you can explain what's going on," Blake suggested, Tori's hand in his as the entire day remained a blank for him.

1-2-3-4-5

The two groups stood in Rock Porium while the Mystic Force group – except Electra and Charlie – pretended to work. Maddie was currently arguing with Ben just out of earshot, and Chip was holding Vida back to ensure she didn't go and beat the living crap out of Ben.

"I can't believe we were evil again," Blake was shaking his head as he sat on one of the stools.

"At least we weren't stuck on a sinking island this time," Electra grinned from beside Hunter.

"Hey, I thought we agreed not to discuss that," Shane groaned. It had been one of the worst days as a Ranger for them. Stuck on a sinking island, fighting with the thunder ninjas and a giant snail, with no contact with Cam and Sensei. Electra just shrugged and grinned back at the air ninja.

"Man, you guys have such cooler stories than we do," Chip whined.

"Hey, we got stuck in that swamp sand before," Vincent reminded him weakly.

"And Vida got turned into a Vampire," Nick spoke up.

"And Nick, Xander, Maddie and Vincent got eaten by that giant monster and we had to save them," Electra grinned, and Vincent shot her a glare.

"And then we nearly got eaten by that giant spider," Xander added.

"Wait what?" Vida, Charlie, Nick and Electra looked at the Australian quickly, and he offered a weak smile to them.

"Xander...was this when you were having your leadership issues and you dragged Maddie, Chip and Vincent off in a different direction to be stubborn?" Electra's voice showed that she wasn't impressed.

"Uh...if I say yes what will you do?" Xander swallowed nervously, already moving to hide behind Charlie.

"Then I'll kick your ass for almost getting my brother killed, and then let Vida deal with you for letting her sister almost get eaten," Electra gestured to Vida, whose glare had moved from Ben to Xander.

"Then no!" Xander told Electra with a wide grin, making the rest of the group start laughing.

"Well hey, you've only been at this a few months. You'll have plenty more stories by the end," Cam smiled as he folded his arms. They all glanced around as Vida suddenly pushed past them to meet Maddie, who walked back inside looking frustrated.

"I ended things with him," they barely heard Maddie's words to Vida. "I won't be told who I can hang out with, or what I can do," her voice was strong but there was sadness in her eyes.

"Let's go home," Vida told her, and the blue ranger nodded. "See you guys around," she looked around to the others, who nodded and waved. Maddie glanced around to smile at them, and her gaze lingered on Nick before her eyes saddened even more and they walked out.

"Well...it's never boring around here," Vincent shook his head as they watched the two leave Rock Porium and head home after calling their excuses to Toby.

**This was definitely the chapter I found hardest to write! No idea why, but I hope you liked it anyway! Finished writing this story last night, I'm a little sad to see it go! Really didn't think I'd get so attached haha!**


	19. Dark Wish Part 1

Chapter 19: Dark Wish Part 1

For the last little while, Briarwood had been plagued with battle after battle, leaving very little time for the Rangers to relax and recover. This meant that when they did finally get some time to take it easy, they took advantage of it.

In Rootcore, Xander, Vincent, Chip and Nick were sprawled on the steps as Xander and Chip used their magic to play a game of chess.

"This is the life," Xander determined with a wide grin as he moved one of the pieces. "Isn't magic grand?" he asked, looking up at Charlie with a smile as she sat on the railings behind him. She just rolled her eyes and went back to the book in her hands, but there was a hint of a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Yeah," Nick agreed with a laugh, but his smile quickly dropped. "Except for all the fighting," he reminded the green ranger.

"Other than that though, magic is awesome," Vincent nodded.

"There's gotta be an easier way to defeat evil," Nick commented as he thought about it.

"Maybe we could eat our way to victory!" Chip exclaimed as he realised how hungry he was. "Got any pizza, Udonna?" he asked, looking around at the witch as she stood in front of the shelves, reading a scroll.

"You can go to town for that," she turned around and spoke sternly. Her suggestion made the four teenage boys start laughing.

"Why go all the way into town when you can do this?" Vincent drew his morpher and cast a spell. Two pizzas appeared on the table, and the other three cheered.

"Great idea!" Nick laughed as they got up and ran over to the pizza, only for a book to slam into Vincent's face.

"There's a time and a place for magic, rangers," Udonna told them with a frown, disapproving of their use of magic.

"And it's not here," Electra added from where she sat, reaching for another book. Udonna walked off as Vincent got back up, rubbing his face. Charlie was shaking her head as the four just reached for the pizza anyway, until there was a loud roar from outside.

"A time and place to feed a dragon," Xander grabbed one of the pizzas and tossed it outside to Fireheart, who had grown from the size of a small dog, to a house. Within seconds, there was an even louder belch, and the four laughed.

"You know you're not supposed to feed dragons pizza," Charlie spoke up, looking over to frown at them.

"He wasn't complaining," Nick laughed, before Claire walked in, pepperoni on her face and a look of disgust under it. The four males laughed even more as she scowled at them.

"How about a little heads up next time, huh guys?" she requested.

"Sorry Claire," Vincent wiped a tear from his eye. As they went back to their pizza, Claire pulled the pepperoni from her face and ate it, before going to go back to her chores.

"Hey Claire, use your magic to clean, it's way faster," Nick pointed out.

"You've got to be kidding me," Electra shook her head, getting irritated at their overuse of magic.

"Yeah, I guess so, but...I get a feeling of accomplishment when I do it the old fashioned way," Claire just smiled brightly at them as she continued to dust. "Hard work is really satisfying," she told them.

"I'll just take your word for it," Vincent laughed, and shovelled more pizza into his mouth.

"Don't listen to them Claire, they're just lazy. That hard work is going to be what helps you become a sorceress," Electra stood up, speaking as she passed the blonde apprentice. Claire smiled back at her. They all looked around as the doors opened and Daggeron rushed in, looking worried.

"Seems we have work to do," he informed them. "Claire, have Vida and Madison meet us there," Claire nodded as Electra and Charlie ran to catch up with Daggeron.

"More fighting..." Nick grumbled as he set down his pizza.

"Typical," Vincent complained as he shoved the last of it into his mouth and followed them out.

1-2-3-4-5

"There he is!" Xander spotted the monster, who resembled a samurai, as they looked through the forest for the latest cause of dark energy.

"You dare stand before me?" the monster growled. "You will fall by my sword!" he called to them.

"Let's get this over with!" Nick yelled, and they drew their staffs.

"Yes, let us do that!" the samurai leapt at them, and the fighting started. However, the samurai quickly overpowered them and knocked them all to the ground.

"I know this beast!" Daggeron realised, drawing the lamp that was Jenji's home. He fired a blast at the samurai monster, who dodged it. The two started fighting, but before long Daggeron was on the ground as well.

"You are weak compared to me!"

"Come on!" Vida yelled, and she, Chip and Electra got back up, running at the monster again. Electra leapt over his sword, only for him to catch her with a punch to the back and throw her to the ground. The monster then used his sword to fire an energy attack that hit Chip, throwing him through the air. The yellow Ranger crashed to the ground, and the samurai laughed.

"He's strong..." Chip groaned as the others regrouped around him.

"I'm done with you!" Xander yelled, and the Samurai laughed, goading him. The green Ranger then turned to Daggeron as an idea came to him. "Can't we use Jenji to wish him away?" he asked.

"It's not that easy," Daggeron told him firmly. "Pull it together!" he barked.

"Daggeron's right," Electra nodded. "I told you before. There's no point in relying on a genie to fight the battle for you," she frowned under her helmet. Xander's fist clenched and he ran at the Samurai, swinging his Magi Staff. The monster dodged and slashed up his chest with his sword, throwing Xander back. He hit the ground hard, crying out in pain.

"You are nothing!" the monster began to glow, and became much bigger. "I will squash you!" he roared.

"You guys deal with Warmax," Daggeron told them. "I'll go help Xander and join you later!" Daggeron ran to the green Ranger, leaving the others to cast the spell that turned them into their titan forms.

"Let's play ball!" Vida leapt into action instantly, transforming into a ball. She flew towards Warmax, who easily swatted her away, slamming her into Madison. The two crashed to the ground, and Chip flew through the air.

"Lightning fire!" he called as he shot lightning at the monster.

"Try us!" Vincent and Electra rushed him, only for both of them to be lifted into the air and thrown into Chip.

"You want some?!" Nick tried next as he ran towards the Samurai with Charlie. However, Warmax used his sword again and took them down just as easily.

"You call yourselves fighters?" he mocked them as they lay groaning on the ground.

"Warmax!" Daggeron's yell alerted Warmax to the train Megazord that Daggeron used, and Xander's Titan form.

"We're not done yet!"

"Xander!"

"He's too powerful!"

"Be careful!" the Rangers called their warnings to the pair, but Xander didn't listen as he turned to the monster.

"Now, it's my turn!"

"You worthless Power Ranger!" the monster snarled.

"Who are you calling worthless?!" Xander swung his axe, and defeated the monster easily.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers returned to Rootcore, exhausted from the tough battle that they had barely won. Chip had his arm slung over Xander, barely able to walk, and the rest of them were covered in bruises.

"Chip!" Udonna noticed how beaten the yellow Ranger was, and set down the ingredients she had been measuring out. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a little banged up," Udonna and Xander helped him sit down on the steps.

"I don't get it!" Vida exclaimed, grumpy and covered in dirt. "We've got this powerful genie and we never ask him for help!"

"It would make things easier," Madison agreed.

"What part of saving the world from evil monsters sounds like it should be easy to you?" Electra sat on the table, folding her arms. Before any of them could say anything, the globe in the middle of the table turned black again, alerting them to more danger.

"Well?" Vida turned to Udonna, who sighed.

"Jenji is not the answer," Daggeron told her firmly. "Rest up Chip, we'll need you. The rest of you, follow me," the Rangers sighed, exhausted, but followed the Knight out of Rootcore, to the next battle.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers ran through the forest, once again morphed, and before long they heard a strange screaming.

"It's Shrieker!" Daggeron recognised the monster as they spotted her. "I knew it!" he growled.

"You know this freak?" Vincent looked to the Solaris Knight, before a purple seal appeared at Shrieker's feet. She began to grow, and the Rangers were forced to back away as purple lightning shot at them.

"Guys, let's Titan up!" Xander called as he pressed the code into his morpher. The others changed into their Titan forms as well, and Daggeron summoned the Solar Streak Megazord.

"We have to work together!" Nick called.

"No problem!" Vida changed into her ball mode again, and each of the other Rangers slammed her to each other, before Nick slammed the ball into Shrieker.

"Ha! Is that all you got!" the screaming monster cried, unaffected by the attack, before letting out another scream and blasting them with her own attack. She cackled as they each crashed to the ground.

"I'm not giving up!" having reverted to normal size, Charlie rushed at Shrieker as she returned to normal, only for the monster to let out a sonic scream that slammed into her. She flew back, straight into Electra, and the two crashed to the ground. Shrieker used the attack several more times, until they were all back on the ground.

"Maybe now would be a good time for Jenji?" Madison suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, so my bruised bruises don't get bruises," Vincent whined as he tried to get up.

"No! We do it ourselves!" Daggeron yelled back at them. "Don't let up!"

"We can do this without genie magic!" Charlie insisted as she tried to get up.

"Hey!" they all looked up to see Chip flying towards them on his Racer. "Incoming!" Chip blasted Shrieker, and leapt off the flying Racer.

"I miss much?" the yellow Ranger asked as he landed in front of the Rangers. He was suddenly wrapped in what looked like sheets that Shrieker shot at him.

"Need a lift?" she taunted as she hurled him into the air. "Take this, Ranger!" she blasted him, and Chip crashed to the ground.

"Come on Rangers, get up!" Daggeron barked, but no sooner had they stood up, were they knocked back down by Necrolai. She cackled loudly as she flew through the air, landing nearby.

"Just thought I'd drop in!" she called over.

"I've got her," Electra got to her feet.

"I don't think so, you see, I've got magic too now," Necrolai flipped open a purple morpher like the ones they possessed, using its magic to knock them all back down.

"Where did you come from, wench?" Shrieker demanded, distracted by the vampire queen's arrival.

"I've had enough of this!" Chip growled as he got back up, granted a temporary reprieve from the mosquito-like monster. "I'll show you how it's done, Yellow Ranger style!" he yelled as he grabbed his Magi Staff. Shrieker screamed again, and Chip flipped through the air. "Power of Lightning!" he blasted her before landing, and Shrieker staggered about as he landed, demorphing from the strain.

"Let's put our magic together!" Daggeron called as Necrolai turned around, gasping in horror. "Fire as one!"

"FIRE!" their magic combined destroyed Shrieker, and Necrolai fled before they could stop her.

"Let's check on Chip!" Daggeron called as Necrolai disappeared.

"Chip, are you ok?" Vida asked worriedly as she helped him up.

"Did we win?" he asked curiously.

"Of course we did," Charlie nodded.

"It would have been easier using Jenji," Nick frowned as he looked around at Daggeron. The Knight just sighed, shaking his head.

1-2-3-4-5

"I don't like it," Electra shook her head as she sat at home with Charlie, both exhausted and starving. Two long, difficult battles straight after each other had taken their toll.

"What don't you like?" Charlie asked, letting out a wide yawn before shoving a piece of chicken into her mouth.

"The others are way too dependent on their magic," Electra leaned back in her chair. "I know we've had a lot of tough battles, especially lately, but if we just rely on our magic, it could be a problem if something happened," she commented, and took a bite of her food.

"Like what?" Charlie asked curiously. She had grown up with magic and it had become a part of her life, and she didn't rely on it as much as the others, but it was still important to her.

"I dunno," Electra groaned. "But they shouldn't rely on it so much. They should be relying on their skills that they've been learning. I didn't teach them what I knew for some little girl's tea party, and neither is Daggeron."

"How would you know about Daggeron's lessons?" Charlie couldn't help but smile. "You've not bothered going to them," she pointed out. Electra's cheeks flushed red.

"Oh shut up," she muttered, making Charlie laugh. "Are you going to the party at Rock Porium this evening?" she decided to change the subject quickly.

"I dunno. The others will all be there-"

"You mean Xander will be there..."

"Now who needs to shut up?" Charlie's face turned red as she glared at Electra, who just smirked back.

"Well, since Vincent will be there, we may as well check it out," the Black Ranger decided as she finished her food. She got up and dumped her dish into the sink, too tired to care about cleaning it. "I'm gonna go grab a shower and try not to fall asleep in it," she decided, and Charlie nodded, smiling softly as she turned her attention back to her food.

1-2-3-4-5

The two reached Rock Porium, hearing the party a while before they saw it. Music was blasting and people were dancing away as Toby partied happily.

"You guys did all this?" Charlie asked as the two walked over to the workers, who were watching Toby dance.

"I didn't think you were gonna come," Vincent looked around in surprise at them.

"And miss Toby's dancing? Never," Electra laughed as she saw the man going crazy.

"I think we did a great job!" the Red Ranger commented with a grin. "Look how happy he is," Nick grinned as they watched their boss talking to everybody with excitement.

"I've never seen him so chatty," Madison commented as Vida laughed.

"Normally he's really...snappy," Vincent nodded.

"We never could have done it without a little magic," Xander grinned widely, slinging an arm over Charlie's shoulders. She went red and rolled her eyes, but did nothing to remove his arm.

"Magic...shocker..." Electra muttered to herself, but didn't say anything. After a long day like they'd had, they needed something relatively normal to enjoy without being lectured.

"Everything is perfect," Chip smiled as he looked around. "I wish everyday could be like this," he commented, and both Madison and Vida 'awwed' as Nick and Vincent poked him with wide grins. Everyone began to call for Toby to make a speech, and he stumbled up onto the stage. The music was cut off, and the microphone slammed into the owner's face.

"Thanks for coming along today to the Rock Porium!" he yelled, and the crowd cheered. Toby started reading off his speech, and the Rangers smiled from the back of the crowd, before their morphers chimed.

"No way," Vincent groaned, and they ran out of the shop, leaving Toby behind.

1-2-3-4-5

"There he is!" Nick yelled as they spotted the next Barbarian Beast. He laughed and attacked them, and only Daggeron managed to avoid it.

"Hold it right there, fiend!" Daggeron held out the lamp that served as his blaster.

"I'm not afraid of you," the dog faced monster called.

"Laser lamp!" Daggeron spun the dial and pointed it away from them. "Fire!" he shot the attack, which turned and flew straight at the monster, only for another to block it easily. "What?!"

"50Below! You got here just in time!" the monster cried as a white furred monster walked into view.

"Get up Rangers!" Daggeron yelled to the fallen Rangers, who pushed themselves back up.

"Now that I am here, you will be defeated!"

"Who are these guys? They're so much stronger..." Nick commented, his eyes wide under his helmet as he looked at the two.

"We barely managed to take out the other two when they were on their own..." Electra muttered under her breath.

"You got that right Ranger!" 50Below called. "We are from the Oblivion!"

"Try this!" Nick drew his Magi Staff as he ran forwards. He then ran at the white-furred monster, but within seconds the monster had him on the ground.

"Magi Staff, Tornado Power!" Vida became a pink coloured tornado, but was repelled and thrown aside.

"Crossbow!" Chip's attack worked just as well as theirs, and he hit the ground as his own attack hit his chest.

"Thunder power!" Vincent slammed his hammer shaped weapon to the ground. The monster laughed as he repelled the sonic boom and threw Vincent into a building with it.

"Come on Maddie!" Xander and Madison attempted to use their Magic as well, but 50Below blocked it as well.

"Power of the aether!" Charlie raised her Magi Staff, and silver light shot from it, straight at 50Below, who repelled it just as easily as the other attacks. "This is ridiculous," the silver ranger groaned as she hit the ground.

"Mystic Slicer!" Not wanting to risk her powers of darkness turning on her again, Electra summoned a weapon and ran at 50Below. She swung her weapon down, only for him to catch it. He punched her several times and threw her into the others, before creating a path of ice that narrowly missed the Rangers. 50Below laughed as he conjured a weapon and slid down the ice, slashing the group of Rangers as they stood together.

"Hurry, get up Rangers!" Daggeron called as he ran in front of them.

"Easier said than done!" Vincent yelled.

"Daggeron, do something!" Xander pleaded.

"Use Jenji, we're exhausted!" Nick cried out.

"Please!"

"No, don't!" Electra yelled as she tried to push herself up, only for her arms to give way. She hit the ground again as Chip cried out in pain. "We can do this without him!"

"No we can't!" Vincent stubbornly refused to accept it.

"We can! We can't give up and rely on magic like this!" Electra told them, but none of the other Rangers would listen. They were beaten, exhausted, and a third tough battle in one day was too much.

"Just do it!" Vida yelled.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Daggeron muttered as he spun the lamp.

"Yeah? You're not the only one..." Jenji grumbled as he peeked out.

"Jenji's Shining Attack!" Daggeron fired it, but as Jenji went to attack, 50Below knocked him into the air. The cat cried out as he lost control, before being sucked into the dog-like monster's staff.

"What?! Jenji!" Daggeron yelled in horror.

"They caught Jenji!" the Rangers yelled out, before 50Below attacked Daggeron, and knocked him into the water.

"Daggeron!"

"Too easy!" the monsters laughed, before disappearing through a seal.

1-2-3-4-5

"They captured him?!" Udonna stared down at the group of Rangers as they told her what had happened with the two remaining Barbarian Beasts.

"There was really nothing else we could do!" Nick insisted.

"So you relied on Jenji? Has nothing that either Daggeron or Electra told you about relying on the magic of genie sunk in?!" Udonna was furious as she scowled at them.

"We had to, there was no other choice..." Xander muttered.

"Now that they've captured him...they can wish for anything" Madison realised as she looked to the other Rangers.

"I wonder what they're gonna wish for," Chip murmured.

"I'd rather not find out..." Vincent grumbled.

"We must be prepared for the worst," Daggeron told them gravely, knowing that things could only get worse.

**So I've started a new story, Power of the Sun, which I'll be uploading either tonight or tomorrow morning before I go out! I always post the cliffhanger ones just before I have to go somewhere or do something...**

**Also, yesterday was the official 20th anniversary of Power Rangers, and also my birthday! Such a great present :3 Happy anniversary to everyone, ehehehe!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	20. Dark Wish Part 2

Chapter 20: Dark Wish Part 2

After Udonna had finished lecturing the Rangers, she had finally allowed them to go home. All of them were exhausted and just wanted to go home.

"Come on," Vida called to Chip as Xander passed through the tree. The yellow Ranger appeared through the magic portal, only for his foot to get caught.

"Hang on a sec guys," he called to them. "I'm not completely out yet," he started pulling at his foot, which was jammed in the tree.

"Everybody grab hold," Nick nodded to them and they each grabbed Chip, and yanked. His foot came free, and the group crashed to the ground as Chip fell onto them. They couldn't help but laugh as they stood back up, before a powerful wind blew at them.

"Feel that?" Maddie raised an eyebrow after shielding her face from the leaves that the wind threw at her.

"Like I couldn't..." Vincent shivered.

"Something's wrong," Electra spoke up, looking around. The sky had gotten darker all of a sudden.

"Seriously wrong," Charlie nodded, going to walk forwards. However, grey smoke appeared out of nowhere and started to surround the silver Ranger.

"Charlie!" Xander noticed this, and the others glanced around. Charlie looked up, her eyes wide and filled with fear. The green ranger attempted to grab her, but she disappeared before he could do so.

"What the heck is going on?!" Vida demanded as Maddie put her hands to her mouth.

"We need to find out, come on," Electra's fists were clenched tightly.

"What's that?" Chip looked up at the sky as it turned black. Everything turned grey, and a blanket of darkness swept over the city.

"Guys, look!" Vincent gestured over to the Rock Porium to find that it was completely destroyed. Gates were up around it, and there was junk lying everywhere.

"Toby?" Vida noticed their boss pushing a trolley full of junk. They walked over to him.

"Hey guys," he spoke quietly as he looked about warily. "I was worried about you...I thought that...who are they?" Toby asked as he looked from Nick, to Electra, to Vincent. After a moment of confusion, they laughed weakly.

"At least he's still got his sense of humour..."

"No seriously...who are they?" Toby asked, looking back at them. Their smiles dropped.

"Toby...what happened to Rock Porium?" Vida asked. "What happened to all the colour?!"

"Are you trying to mess with me?" Toby stammered as he stared at them. "You don't remember how the darkness took over?" their eyes widened. "Four months ago," he added.

"Guys...something's happened," Nick spoke up.

"You're telling me...there's some serious evil around this city," Electra spoke up, looking around.

"The world as we know it has changed. Four months ago is when Vincent, Electra and I came to this city and we became..." Nick trailed off as he looked to Toby. "You know who..."

"Hey guys, do you hear?" they glanced over at Toby as he spoke. "I got music! I still have to listen to it, even though it's been banned!" he spoke as if they already knew this.

"Banned music?" Chip stared at him.

"Who would ban music?" Vincent asked incredulously. As if on cue, a seal appeared and Hidiacs rose from the ground. Toby cried out as the Hidiacs grabbed him.

"Let's Ranger up," Nick told the others, walking forwards. However, all of them realised that their morphers were gone.

"Our morphers..." Xander breathed, before the Hidiacs stormed past.

"We better get to Rootcore," Nick turned and ran to the tree, only to ricochet off the trunk when the portal didn't open.

"I guess we're going the long way," Electra muttered as they forced themselves to keep moving.

1-2-3-4-5

As they ran through the forest, the Rangers skidded to a stop as they reached Rootcore, only to find it destroyed.

"How could this happen?" Vincent whispered as they walked forwards. Xander crouched and lifted a piece of the Xenotome, which had been destroyed as well.

"What happened here?" he wondered, looking to the others.

"What happened everywhere..." Nick sighed.

"Get away from here!" they looked around to see a familiar face, but not exactly as they knew her. "My home! Get away! Mine, go! Go!" Udonna shrieked at them.

"Udonna...don't you remember us? You taught us everything we know," Madison spoke softly as she walked over to the witch. "We're the Power Rangers," she gestured to her friends. "We're the Mystic Force," she reminded Udonna.

"Liars! The Mystic ones never came!" Udonna snarled. "I waited for them, they never came!" she yelled, broken. The group stared at her in shock. "Only the darkness...only the darkness..."

"There you are," they looked up to see Claire walking towards her aunt. "I've been looking ever-" she trailed off as she noticed the others. "Who are you?!" she demanded. "You better not try and harm us!" the usually sweet and friendly apprentice growled warily at them.

"Claire, we'd never hurt you," Vincent insisted with a hurt expression as he walked forwards.

"You know my name..." Claire stared at him, fear appearing even more in her eyes. "You must be one of them!" she yelled.

"No!" Vincent shook his head. "I'm not one of _them_!" he insisted. "I'm your friend, Claire. We're not evil," he pleaded with her.

"It's the truth. We're here to help," Electra nodded. "Please, tell us what happened. To Briarwood, to Rootcore, to you two," she took a careful step forwards.

"Don't you know what happened?" Claire's voice was soft, and just as broken as Udonna's. "There's no more good magic in the world..."

1-2-3-4-5

"Let's see..." after leaving the two broken women alone at their plea, the seven Rangers walked through the forest. "We've lost Jenji. We're no longer Power Rangers. We no longer have any magic. In fact there's no longer _any _good magic and the world's ruled by the dark forces. This is officially as bad as it gets," Chip summed up their problems.

Until Koragg appeared.

"I've been looking for you," he raised his sword to point it at them. Before they could move, he slammed his sword into the ground, and took a step back. Electra lowered her fists, recognising the sign that he wasn't there to fight. "We need to talk," the purple knight told them.

"We don't talk," Nick snarled. "Not to you," he pushed past Xander and Chip. He grabbed Koragg's sword, ready to attack.

"Nick, wait," Electra put a hand to his chest, stopping him. "Let's hear what he has to say," she told him, and the entire team stared at her. "If he was here to fight, he would have said so. You know Koragg has some degree of honour," she glanced around at him.

"We have no more magic Nick...we can't fight him," Maddie put a hand on his arm after an initial hesitation. "It's over..." she took the sword from Nick and held it out to Koragg. "We'll talk," she nodded. The knight growled and took his sword back.

"The world we know has changed. You must tell me what you know of this," Koragg ordered as he returned his sword to its place in his shield.

"All we know is that time changed after the Solaris Knight lost his genie to the Barbarian Beasts," Electra spoke carefully as she watched him.

"Of course...your knight lost his genie, and Imperious made him grant a wish, that the Power Rangers never existed," Koragg's words stunned them, and they fell silent.

"Who are these 'barbarian beasts'?" Vincent asked.

"They work for Imperious, and they as much my enemies as they are yours," Koragg replied.

"Excuse me?" Chip squinted at him. "Am I missing something? You and that mummy have been trying to turn us into vapour for months. And now you're saying you don't like the new guys because they got rid of us?" he demanded.

"It's not that," Electra's voice was soft as she surveyed the dark knight in front of them. "They fight dirty, without honour," she pointed out.

"Exactly," Koragg nodded. "It is not because they did it, but because of how they did it, and how they tried to get rid of me. But most of all, because they are planning to overthrow the Master," he announced.

"So, you want darkness to rule the world. But only if they do it nicely?" Nick stared at him in disbelief. Koragg snarled and stormed towards him.

"Without honour, victory is meaningless!" he growled at the leader. "It is the one thing in this world that no-one can take from you," Koragg turned away. "I would battle them myself, but my powers have also been taken away. But I can help you get your powers back, and defeat Fight-O and 50Below," Koragg explained as he turned to look at them again.

"And you guys took his sword away from me," Nick laughed.

"No no, think about it guys. What choice do we really have?" Xander asked them. "We have no way to beat these guys, both Charlie and Daggeron are missing. We know the outcome the way things are now, at least Koragg's way, we might still have a fighting chance," his words made the others nod, knowing they were right.

1-2-3-4-5

"So where are we going?" Nick asked suspiciously as they followed Koragg.

"You will see soon enough," the knight spoke cryptically as always. He paused, however, and the others frowned.

"What's up?" Vincent questioned as Koragg looked around. Before the Knight could reply, a figure appeared, rushing at them and slamming into Koragg's chest. The Knight fell backwards, and the figure flipped through the air before landing.

"Leave this place now!" they realised that it was Charlie. Her hair was cropped much shorter, as if a sword had cut through it, leaving it at just below shoulder length. She wore a pair of shorts and a ripped shirt, with the ribbon that had been in her hair now around her wrist. Her boots were worn, and she was covered in dirt.

"Charlie!" Xander rushed forwards, but Charlie reacted faster, knocking him to the ground.

"How do you know my name?" she demanded with a growl, pinning him with her foot.

"She doesn't remember us either..." Maddie mumbled.

"Of course she doesn't," Electra shook her head, moving slowly towards Charlie. "Listen Charlie, we know who you are. Time's been changed, so you don't remember us, but we're the Mystic Force," Charlie looked up sharply, and the heel of her boot pressed harder into Xander's chest.

"You're a liar!" Charlie growled at her. "The Mystic Warriors never appeared!"

"Like I said, time has changed," Electra raised her hands.

"We're your friends Charlie," Xander groaned from the ground. "You've helped us fight off these monsters, and we've helped you!" he insisted as Charlie looked back down at him. There was something about the group that made Charlie think they were telling the truth.

"You've told us about yourself," Electra spoke up again. "You're half human, you spent your life training to be the silver ranger," Charlie's eyes narrowed, but she refused to look up.

"That hardly matters anymore, does it?" she snapped, her fists clenched. She had no idea how they knew, and it only encouraged the voice that told her they were good.

"Yes, it does! We're going to fix this Charlie, but we need your help," Nick spoke up. "Any world is better than this, right? So help us fix it!" the leader spoke, and Charlie remained silent.

"Alright," she finally decided, and released Xander. "But if you turn out to be evil, I'll destroy you," Charlie warned, her eyes travelling to Koragg suspiciously. The Rangers shivered, knowing that she could do it.

1-2-3-4-5

"You must go to the Tribunal of Magic, and ask them to reverse the wish," Koragg spoke as he led the Rangers through the forest. "It is the only way," he told them grimly.

"And you're going to take us to them?" Vida asked sceptically.

"The Tribunal resides in another dimension. I no longer have the magic to transport you," Koragg explained. "You'll have to go with him," he gestured to a familiar creature.

"Fireheart!" Chip grinned, and they walked towards the Dragon, only for him to roar and breathe fire at them.

"He doesn't remember us..." Maddie realised sadly. "And we raised him from an egg," she muttered.

"No you didn't. You never found the egg. I did. I raised him. He is _my _dragon," Koragg explained as he walked towards Fireheart. He cast a spell, and Fireheart calmed. "He will take you now," he told them.

"Thanks..." Nick muttered.

"Go with honour," Koragg's words made Electra look around quickly. She'd heard those words before somewhere.

"Guys..." she spoke as she turned back to them.

"What's up?" Nick asked as he hoisted himself up onto Fireheart's back.

"I'm going back into town," Electra announced, and they stared at her. "I still have powers," she teleported as if to demonstrate this. "Which means that while I've technically now never been a Mystic Ranger, I've still been a Ranger before. I'm going to get my morpher, and help the people in town," she told them with determination.

"Why? We're going to reverse the wish," Vincent frowned, not liking the idea in the slightest.

"What if you fail?" Electra's question struck them all. "I'm not saying you will, but on the off chance, I want to protect Briarwood with what power I still have," she told them.

"Alright," Nick nodded, but he didn't look like he liked it either. "Good luck," he told her, and Electra nodded, offering a small smile before disappearing in a flash.

"How did she do that?" Charlie asked, looking to the others with a suspicious look.

"It's a long story," Vincent sighed. He hoped Electra would be ok.

"Hey, she has a morpher, she's safer than we are," Maddie told him softly, seeing his worried expression. Vincent just nodded, and climbed up onto Fireheart's back behind Nick. Once they were all up, Fireheart shot into the air and flew off.

"This is amazing!" Chip yelled with excitement as they flew through the air. While they flew on broomsticks almost daily, riding on the back of a dragon was a completely different feeling.

Charlie closed her eyes, finding herself enjoying the flight with the people that were strangers to her, yet acted like they were good friends. Her short hair flew back in the wind, and Xander caught sight of her ears. His breath caught in his throat as he found they were shaped completely differently to a humans, shaped more like a leaf, with a pointed tip. Charlie's pale blue eyes opened and darted to Xander, before narrowing.

"What?" her voice was hard and distrustful. Xander's eyes darted away instantly, and he chose not to reply as Charlie raised an eyebrow, not understanding the expression on his face.

"You guys have got to admit, this is one exciting adventure!" Chip grinned childishly, as if he had forgotten how much trouble they were in. "Not knowing where we're going, not knowing when we're gonna get there, not even knowing if we're gonna get back!" he exclaimed.

"Not knowing if we're going to actually succeed at this?" Vincent spoke up, turning and narrowing his eyes at Chip. "Not knowing if the world will be safe again? Not knowing if my sister is ok? Yeah, way awesome," he spat, and Chip's grin dropped instantly.

"Sorry Vincent..." he mumbled.

"Take it easy Vincent, we're all just as worried as you are," Vida growled at him, turning to glare at the brown haired teenager. Vincent just rolled his eyes and scoffed, but didn't speak.

"Cool it, there's no point fighting amongst ourselves," Nick warned, before there was a screech and Fireheart was hit by a blast of magic.

"Going somewhere?" Necrolai called as she flew nearby. She cackled, flying after them.

"Hold on guys!" Nick yelled as Necrolai caught up, flying alongside the large dragon.

"Got you now!" the Vampire screeched, and blasted them with more magic. Fireheart dodged, and eventually clipped her, before flying around and blasting her. Necrolai hurtled to the ground, and the group cheered.

"Look!" Vida suddenly yelled, and they all looked ahead to see lightning in the sky, flashing as thunder boomed. Unnatural light shone from the clouds.

"Is this it?"

"I'd say so!" Nick nodded, and Fireheart created a portal. "Everybody hang on!" Nick yelled, and they flew through. Fireheart flew towards the ground that appeared on the other side of the portal, and everyone climbed off.

"Thanks Fireheart!" Xander called up to the Dragon, before they looked around.

"What is this place?" Vida asked slowly.

"I really don't like the feel of this place," Vincent tried to keep his voice flat like Electra could always manage to do, but his nerves showed through regardless. "Maybe we should go back..." no sooner had he finished that suggestion, did Fireheart fly off, ignoring their yells to come back. "Or not..."

1-2-3-4-5

The seven teenagers walked for what felt like miles through the wasteland, not knowing where they were going, or if they were even going in the right direction.

"You'd think they'd at least have some signs out here," Xander complained.

"Sure," Vida scoffed. "Something like 'Secret Tribunal of Magic, 3 miles ahead'," she spoke sarcastically, gesturing ahead of her while Maddie giggled.

"Well, at least we would know if we were headed in the right direction," she complained as the others laughed quietly.

"Don't you have some kind of super kung fu senses?" Chip looked to Vincent, who rolled his eyes.

"Other than calling on my animal spirit to help me fight, I'm as normal as you guys," he replied. "Electra's the one with all the freaky senses. I can't even get the Swoop technique right," he complained, before a creature seemed to rise from the sand. It swung a sword down, and they all stopped.

"Why have you come here, humans?" he demanded with a growl.

"That's none of your business," Nick growled back. He lunged at the creature, about to fight, before Xander caught him and pulled him back as the creature swung his sword down, the metal ringing through the air.

"Let me handle this one," Xander insisted, stepping forwards. "Hi, the name's Xander. We just flew into this dimension on a dragon, and we're looking for the Tribunal of Magic," he told the creature, who frowned.

"Tribunal of Magic?" he repeated, and Xander nodded quickly. "Then you're headed in the right direction," he told the Australian, who grinned as the others laughed in disbelief.

"Excellent, then we'll just be on our way," he said, before the creature blocked their path.

"But to get to the Tribunal of Magic, you have to get by every warrior that's tried to get there, and _failed_," he announced, and several figures appeared at the top of a hill.

"Like Electra always says, Plan Xander never works," Vincent sighed as he fell into a fighting stance.

"He's tried this before?" Charlie shot him a look of disbelief. Vincent nodded as Xander went red.

"Never mind that," Nick frowned at them.

"Well if the only way to get there is through them..." Vida smirked as she moved into her battle stance. The warriors roared as they raced down the hill, and the seven let out a yell before running to meet them.

Vincent flipped over the head of one of the warriors and caught his sword by the handle, forcing it down before it could slice him in half. He landed and jumped back to avoid another, before delivering a kick to the warrior's chest. He leapt back again to avoid the sword and managed to disarm his attacker, before spinning and kicking him into a tree, where he turned back into sand. Vincent then blocked the other warrior with the sword, and hit him with several kicks, returning him to his sand form as well.

"Took you long enough," Charlie commented, leaning against the tree, having taken out her attackers easily.

"Show off," Vincent just rolled his eyes.

"Well done," only the original attacker remained, having been fighting Nick. "You've earned this," he held out a key, and handed it to Nick as the others ran back over to him. "Use it wisely," the warrior instructed, before turning to sand.

1-2-3-4-5

"A key to a treasure chest?" Chip held the key as they continued walking through the wastelands. "Maybe it's a key to a castle," he continued making suggestions, even after the others had given up, tired and covered in mud. "Or maybe it's the key to a-"

"Door," Nick finished for the red haired teen. They all stared at the strange doors that stood in the middle of the desert.

"That's odd..." Maddie commented.

"As opposed to everything else that's happened so far," Charlie muttered.

"Well, this is interesting," Vida walked up to the door, staring at it with a suspicious frown. "Two doors in the middle of nowhere..." she spoke as she walked between the two. "Leading to nowhere!" she exclaimed.

"It's like you people don't realise there's magic involved," Charlie rolled her eyes, folding her arms as they glanced to her. "Figure it out!" she exclaimed when they looked to her blankly. Maddie frowned, and walked over to the door.

"Uh...sis..." Maddie glanced back at Vida before using the key that they had been given to open the white door. They were surprised when they found Toby on the other side, back to his usual self.

"Guys! It's Briarwood! It's Rock Porium, even the colour's back!" Vida exclaimed with excitement. "Guys, it's home!"

"Looks like Toby needs our help, what are we waiting for!" Chip grinned, and he, Nick, Vida, Vincent and Xander rushed forwards.

"Wait!" Maddie stopped them, and noticed Charlie's subtle nod. "I know this sounds weird, and weirder coming from me, but, that's home, and safe, but I don't think it's the door for us," she told them, looking at the group nervously.

"You're right. That doesn't sound like you," Xander agreed, and Maddie rolled her eyes. "Guys, the Tribunal of Magic is offering us a way home," he glanced to the others. "I say we take it!" he insisted.

"I say we don't," they all looked to Nick, who was frowning. "We came to find the Tribunal and reverse the wish. We go home now because we're scared, or it's an easy way out, or it looks like everything's back to normal, then we deserve to live the rest of our lives without magic!" he exclaimed.

"Nick's right," Vida nodded as the others begrudgingly accepted this. "We didn't come all this way to take the easy way out," she reminded them with determination. Maddie nodded, and shut the door again. As she backed away, the door turned to sand.

"Well, then our only option is to go through this door," Chip walked over to the other door, and opened it to reveal another portal.

"What if it gets worse once we're inside?" Xander grumbled.

"Come on now, half the fun is finding out," Charlie spoke up, and walked through the portal.

"She is reminding me more and more of Electra, and that is freaking me out," Vincent shivered, and followed Charlie in. The others followed suit, and Chip shut the door behind him.

1-2-3-4-5

The seven rose from water, oddly dry, and looked around at the strange place they had arrived at. It was a grassy area, surrounded by water, with white pillars. Three figures appeared from nowhere, one in white, one in red, and one in black.

"Look!" Vida breathed as she stared at them.

"You are the first to get to the Tribunal of Magic in three centuries," the one in white spoke.

"You are wasting _our _time, and yours," the one in black growled.

"They have made it this far, they are entitled to be heard," the red figure countered. "Speak," he ordered.

"Hi, the name's Xander!" the Australian spoke up brightly.

"He's trying that again?" Charlie muttered to Maddie, who sighed.

"He never really stops," the black haired girl explained, shaking her head as Xander stepped forwards to talk to the three odd figures.

"Enough," the black figure spoke up. "We do not care about names. Why are you here?" he demanded, and Xander instantly backed down.

"I think you better handle this one, Nick," he glanced to their leader.

"Well, uh, to cut to the chase. There's this bad guy, Imperious, who stole our genie, and made him grant him a wish," Nick explained as they walked towards the three. "He wished that the Power Rangers...uh...never existed," Nick finished hesitantly.

"_You _are the Power Rangers?" the female figure asked curiously.

"Yeah," Chip nodded. "I'm yellow, she's silver, he's red-"

"I actually became Silver?" Charlie turned her eyes at Xander, who nodded.

"Enough," the black figure, who clearly had no patience for them, interrupted again. "Go home!" he snapped, waving his hand. "There is nothing we can do for you," he told them.

"Wait! Wait a second! We were told that you could reverse a genie's wish," Nick wouldn't back down.

"We can," the white figure nodded.

"But we won't," the one in black finished. "Go!" he yelled. The group stood stunned.

"I don't believe this," Maddie breathed.

"Let's go..." Vida grumbled, but before they could, the red figure called out.

"Wait!" they all turned around again. "Why is it that you want this wish reversed?" he asked.

"Because our magic has been taken away from us!" Vida explained angrily. "And dark magic now rules the world," she spoke a little softer as she managed to calm herself a little.

"So your world still has magic," the figure in black spoke up.

"Well...yeah, but it's dark, and evil, and icky," Chip frowned, confused that they didn't seem to understand this. Maddie voiced her agreement.

"We do not judge good or evil magic," the red figure told them calmly. "We just ensure that there _is _magic," he explained.

"Ok guys, seriously you can't say dark evil magic is the same as having good, wondrous magic!" Xander shouted at them, unable to accept their answer.

"No!" the white figure shook her head quickly. "It isn't the same," the white and red figures looked to the black one.

"I'm curious...just how was your genie stolen?" he asked, and the three looked back down at the ground. Charlie turned her head to look at them as well, not knowing why either.

"We had been in battle after battle...we were tired. We asked Solaris to use his genie, and when he did, Jenji was captured..." Nick admitted guiltily.

"And who was responsible for this loss?"

"Nobody!" Vincent exclaimed as Charlie watched them with wide eyes. "It was an accident, we had no idea that that dog faced freak and the yeti would capture Jenji!" he yelled angrily.

"It would serve you best not to raise your voice," the red figure warned, his voice calm, but threatening all the same. "We are not the ones responsible for losing your genie," he told them.

"And what? You saying we are?" Nick demanded as he and the others walked forwards.

"I think it best that we change the subject," the white figure quickly spoke, trying to defuse the situation. "What would you do, if we were to grant the reversal of the wish?" she asked curiously, taking them by surprise.

"We would go back and fight the darkness, and restore the world to the way it was," Maddie answered quickly. "And there'd be colour, and laughter, and people could be free!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"And Toby would have his store back, and we'd all have music!"

"And Udonna would have Rootcore!"

"And we'd have our dragon back!"

"And our friends would remember us!"

"And I'd have my cape back!" Chip yelled furiously, earning several looks. "What? It may not mean much to you, but it does to me," he defended, going red.

"They present a good case," the white figure turned to the others.

"We need to confer," the one in red told them, and the three mystical beings stood together to speak quietly. After a moment, they turned back to the group. "We admire the ability it took to get here. We applaud the case you presented us," the group stood hopeful. "By the power entrusted in us, we...do not grant your request," the hopeful smiles slipped off their faces.

"Wh...what?" Vincent spluttered. "Please! We can't just go back to that!" he pleaded desperately.

"Do not leave your friend to face the darkness alone, as she does now," the white figure waved a hand, and they caught a glimpse of Electra, in her Monochrome Storm suit, fighting off too many enemies to beat. She was being thrown about, barely able to keep standing, but she did, stubbornly holding onto her weapon as she fought them off.

"Go home," the one in red waved his hand, and as Nick protested, they disappeared in a cloud of smoke, returning to Briarwood.

"All that way...and we failed..." Vida breathed.

"I can't believe it's over..." Xander breathed, before they were shoved along by Hidiacs. With no idea how they were going to do anything to help Briarwood, their will to fight was broken.

**I really need to get writing my Jungle Fury fic...**

**Anyways, I hope you liked it!**


	21. Dark Wish Part 3

Chapter 21: Dark Wish Part 3

"Keep going!"

Hidiacs barked orders at the powerless Rangers as they walked through Briarwood. None of them spoke; too horrified by the sight of the civilians who were being abused by the monsters.

"Any human who doesn't obey the law will be taken to the mines!" Necrolai was yelling nearby. "You live only to serve us now!" she told them.

"This is horrible..." Maddie whispered as she looked around.

"They've taken over the whole city...and there's nothing we can do about it," Chip growled furiously.

"The world belongs to the forces of darkness!" Necrolai was continuing to yell as people were shoved past her.

"We've failed," Xander shook his head.

"Where's Electra?" Vincent looked around for his sister, but there was still no sign of her. He prayed she was ok and had hidden somewhere, but he knew Electra never gave up when it came to fighting evil. Music filled the air, and they all looked around to find Toby, holding a tiny music box that played music as he wound it up.

"You were told once! Music is forbidden!" Necrolai snarled as she yanked it out of his hand.

"But it's just a little music box!" Toby pleaded with her.

"The _law _is the _law_," Necrolai spoke as she stomped on the music box, destroying it. Toby was grabbed and yanked along by a couple of Hidiacs as he cried out an apology.

"If we had our magic they wouldn't get away with this!" Xander yelled angrily as Toby yelled out for help. Vincent held onto Charlie's arm, seeing her close to going after the monsters. She was still coveted by the dark forces, and Vincent knew they had to protect her.

Darkness shot at the Hidiacs from nearby, destroying the two holding Toby. Electra leapt off the car she was standing on, her eyes narrowed. Maddie put her hands to her mouth as the others stared at the only one of them with some form of power. She was covered in cuts and bruises, her clothes were ripped and stained with blood. In a matter of hours, Electra had been beaten far worse than ever, yet she was still standing.

"I've told you before, leave him alone!" Electra yelled, wiping fresh blood from her face and only succeeding in smearing it across her face, which was already covered in dirt and blood.

"You again? Haven't you learnt by now that you can't win by yourself?" Necrolai snarled.

"I'm too stubborn to listen," Electra threw out her wrist. "MONOCHROME STORM, RANGER FORM, HA!" she morphed into her black suit, and drew her blaster. She rushed at the monsters, and started fighting them off.

"Magic or no magic, I'm not going to stand by and watch this," Nick growled as Electra was quickly surrounded and overwhelmed. Nick ran towards the Hidiacs and threw a few aside. "Run, get out of here!" Nick yelled to Toby, who nodded and ran off.

"Good of you to show up," Electra's voice was strained as she stood back to back with Nick.

"Couldn't let you have all the fun," he replied as he tossed aside another Hidiac.

"Of course not," Electra managed a chuckle as she blasted one that was running at her.

"Come on!" Vida yelled to the others as she ran to join in. The group fought to try and take on the Hidiacs, but without their powers, most of them were easily taken down.

"Call to the beast inside! Unlock the Fox!" Vincent managed to last a little longer, summoning his animal spirit to help stop the Hidiacs overwhelming him. However, even more swarmed around him and threw him into a couple of bins before blasting at his fox spirit, causing it to disappear with a howl. Electra was thrown into the gates, and crashed to the ground, demorphing.

"Well well, look who's back," Necrolai advanced on them as they stood together. They backed away as the vampire advanced on them, until they hit the mesh gates behind them.

"What are you going to do to us?" Maddie asked in a terrified voice.

"Well, we'll be taking that irritating black ranger, and the little girl you're trying to protect, to the Underworld, to revive the Master," Necrolai told them. Charlie's eyes widened in fear, and Xander pushed her behind him quickly, his eyes narrow. Charlie blinked up at him in surprise, while Electra remained in a fighting stance. She would go down fighting if she had to, but she wouldn't go to the Underworld. "As for the rest of you, I'm going to do what I've wanted to do for a long time. Annihilate you!" she yelled happily.

Before anyone could react to her words, a strong wind picked up. The grey clouds overhead started moving quickly, and the sky turned blue.

"No!" Necrolai yelled as colour returned to the city, and Charlie's appearance changed, returning to her normal self. Even Electra's injuries disappeared, and their morphers returned to their hands, and Charlie's wrist.

"Much better," Charlie nodded as she checked her hair, which had returned to it's much longer length.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling the magic," Nick grinned as he looked down at the morpher in his hand.

"No!" Necrolai shrieked.

"Ready?" Nick yelled as he threw out his hand, holding his morpher tightly as if he expected it to disappear again.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" the group morphed into their suits, thankful to have their magic back.

"Bring it on!" Necrolai called as the Hidiacs regrouped around her.

"Let's go!" Nick called, and the fight began again. Vincent moved around one of the Hidiacs and slammed his boot into its back, before spinning and delivering another kick to a Hidiac, knocking into two more. Grinning under his helmet at the return of his power, the gold ranger drew his Magi Staff.

"Magi Staff! Thunder Power!" as it changed into a hammer, Vincent slammed it against the ground. The shockwave collided with the Hidiacs running towards him.

Electra leapt off a car, jumping up as soon as she touched the ground. Feeling a lot better after her injuries had been healed, she knocked a couple of Hidiacs back with well placed kicks and flipped forwards, knocking out another few.

"Magi Staff! Dark Power!" Electra raised her staff into the air. The darkness flew from it and wrapped around the Hidiacs, destroying them. Nearby, Charlie easily wiped out her opponents with her power of Aether, draining them. Nick fought off Necrolai with ease, and the Rangers concentrated on taking out the rest of the Hidiacs that still swarmed the city, while defending the terrified civilians that were trapped. Before long Fighto reappeared, growing much larger, and the Rangers called on their Racers, flying into the air.

"Take it to the Titans!" Nick called as Xander and Vida leapt off their Racers and through Mystic seals. They changed into their Titan forms, and were followed by Vincent, Vida and Chip, then Electra and Charlie. Nick leapt through a seal as well, and they faced off the dog-faced monster.

"See if you can break these!" Fighto called as he swung his staff, creating bubbles that changed into giant rocks that hurtled towards the Rangers, who had formed the Megazord. They easily cut through the rocks with their sabre.

"TITAN MEGAZORD, GALAXY SLASH!" they slashed through the staff, breaking it.

"My staff! Impossible!" the Barbarian Beast cried out. "You'll pay for this Rangers, you'll pay!" he yelled angrily as he dropped his now useless weapon. He shrank down, losing his power and disappearing.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers returned to Rootcore, where they found Udonna, Claire, Daggeron and Jenji waiting for them. Letting out cries of joy, they rushed over and Claire pulled them all into a hug. Vincent hugged her back tightly as Electra squirmed away.

"Going to the Tribunal of Magic took a lot of guts. And I can't believe Koragg helped you," Daggeron commented, barely able to believe their story. "And Electra, taking on the dark forces alone was reckless and dangerous, but it was also incredibly brave," he looked to the Black Ranger as she removed her Monochrome morpher, slipping it into her pocket. Red traced her cheeks, but she just shrugged.

"The people in Briarwood needed defending, and I was the only one who could do it. It was nothing," she dismissed it, and the other Rangers rolled their eyes at her modesty. Vincent took the moment to whisper to Claire, who blinked in confusion before following him away.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Jenji spoke up, distracting the other Rangers. "This all happened because of me," he indicated to himself as he spoke.

"It's not your fault Jenji, you had to grant the wish," Maddie shook her head with a weak smile.

"I'm just glad everything's back to normal," Xander grinned as he draped an arm around Charlie's shoulders. She rolled her eyes, but didn't shrug him off as she tried to hide her grin.

"Well, as normal as it gets around here," Electra smirked, winking to Charlie, who shot her a glare.

"The danger isn't over yet, Rangers," Udonna spoke, her smile dropping. "Two of the Barbarian Beasts are still-" before she could finish speaking, the globe chimed and they looked around.

"You had to say it," Vida looked to her with an amused smile.

"Let's go guys," Nick looked to his friends. "Vincent, let's go!" he called to the gold ranger, who was speaking quietly to a bright red Claire. He looked up and groaned, before winking at Claire and following them out of Rootcore.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers returned to Briarwood, along with Daggeron, where they found Fighto and 50Below waiting for them.

"We meet again Rangers," 50Below called out as the Rangers reached them, already morphed. "Attack!" the two Barbarian Beasts suddenly ran at them.

"Ready?" Nick called as he drew his Magi Staff.

"Ready!" the others called as they drew their own weapons. They ran at the two and started fighting, but even with their powers back, they were quickly overwhelmed. Daggeron fell last, demorphing as he dropped Jenji's lamp.

"I thought it would be harder to defeat a Knight!" 50Below mocked as he walked towards the fallen Knight.

"How about _two_ Knights?" a familiar voice called out, and they all looked up in surprise as Koragg walked towards the Barbarian Beast. "The right to destroy these beasts is _mine_!" Koragg drew his sword and pointed it at the white-furred monster.

"I'm beginning to think we should have some kind of notice that tells us whose side Koragg is on," Vincent commented as he got back to his feet. However, no sooner had he gotten up, was he knocked straight back off them by Fighto.

"We should have done our best to defeat these guys when we had the chance!" Vida groaned as she tried to get back up.

"We took the easy way by using Jenji..." Chip agreed.

"Face it guys, we got lazy," Xander added in, also trying and failing to get to his feet.

"_Finally _they get it," Electra rolled her eyes under her helmet.

"That's what the Tribunal was trying to tell me," Nick realised, using his Magi Staff to push himself up. "But I wouldn't listen!" he fell back to the ground as he spoke. Both 50Below and Fighto advanced on the fallen Rangers, and both attacked together. However, when the smoke of the explosion faded, a light shot from the ground and up onto the bridge above, and revealed the Rangers, unharmed.

"They have more power!" Koragg realised.

"We sure do!" Nick nodded with a grin. "Let's show them what we got!" he called to his team-mates, who held out their morphers, while Charlie raised her arm into the air. They each pressed the keys to their new spell code.

"LEGENDARY FORCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" they changed into new suits, calling on much longer staffs.

"Element of Earth, Green Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Thunder, Gold Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Wind, Pink Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Water, Blue Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Darkness, Black Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Lightning, Yellow Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Aether, Silver Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Fire, Red Legend Warrior!"

"We call forth the power of Light Magic! Mystic Force, Legend Warriors!"

The allies of the Dark forces breathed out in amazement at the new power the Mystic Rangers had. The Rangers then leapt down to the ground, where they were met by the two remaining Barbarian Beasts.

"We're not afraid!" Fighto declared.

"MYSTIC LION STAFF!" they called, and Xander stepped forwards.

"I'll make the first call!" he shouted. "Code one!" he spun the dial on his staff. "Rock slide!" he slammed his staff into the green energy, creating rocks that slammed into the two.

"Code one!" Vida went up next. "Whirlwind!" the blast of air shoved the two monsters back as they cried out.

"Code one!" Electra spun her staff. "Dark pulse!" like with her Magi Staff, darkness shot at the two monsters from the black energy formed, only this time it slammed into them like a whip, rather than surrounding them.

"Code one! Tidal wave!" Maddie took her turn next and used her magic to create a wave of water that sent the two flying.

"My turn," Vincent stepped forwards as he twirled his staff in his hands. "Code one!" he called as he held it upright again, and spun the dial. "Thunder Clap!" several booms of thunder echoed, and the resulting sonic claps slammed into the monsters who were recovering from Maddie's attack.

"Code one!" Chip stepped forwards and created a circle of yellow energy. "Lightning bolts!" he let out a yell as lightning shot from the sky towards the monsters.

"Code one!" Charlie did the same, creating silver energy in a circle in front of her. "Sky strike!" the silver energy shot out in small bursts.

"Code one! Firestorm!" Nick summoned the power of fire to attack. The Barbarian Beasts flew through the air, hitting the ground hard. "Down for the count!" Nick grinned.

"This is too much for me!" Fighto cried out as he managed to get back to his feet. "I'll see you in the dog pound!" he ran off, and as 50Below got to his feet, the orb in his chest cracked in an X shape.

"Ultimate Ice!" he called on his final attack, summoning a huge ball of ice that hurtled towards them.

"Code two!" Nick called as he spun the dial in his staff again. "This is gonna take a team effort!" they each held their staffs in the air.

"Legend warriors, united formation! FIRE!" bright light shot from their staffs and slammed straight into 50Below, sending him flying into the air, straight into his own ice attack. "Alright! Now that's cold!" 50Below cried out as he shattered, and both he and the ice were destroyed.

1-2-3-4-5

Cheering amongst themselves as they walked through Briarwood, the Rangers couldn't stop laughing, relieved that it was finally over.

"That was unreal," Chip determined as he carried Vida on his back.

"We really did it guys," Xander put his arms over Nick and Charlie, who laughed. "No more Barbarian Beasts!" he grinned as they staggered, losing their balance.

"Oh, and we still got time to make it back to the party!" Vida reminded them as she jumped off Chip's back.

"Woo yeah!" Vincent threw his arms into the air, and Electra glanced at him with a grin.

"Hang on a second," she stopped him, catching his arm. The others looked around, wondering what she was doing. "Take a look," Electra commented, and Vincent looked down at his arm. His brown eyes widened as he saw a tattoo across his forearm, identical to Electra's.

"No way..." he breathed.

"Must have appeared when we were morphed," Electra started laughing, and clapped her brother on the back. "Looks like you're a Master!" the others cheered and started congratulating the shocked teen, who couldn't stop staring at the stripes across his arm.

"I guess learning not to take the easy way out was your ticket to becoming a Master," Maddie smiled at him. Vincent just let out a breathy laugh, not quite able to believe it.

"Does that mean we can leave Briarwood?" Electra asked, looking hopeful.

"Never!" Xander declared, wrapping his arms around her. Electra cried out and struggled, but he refused to let her go. The others joined in, laughing as Electra yelled at them to let her go. They kept laughing as Electra was unable to break free, before they heard a loud thud of a footstep. They all looked around, and their smiles dropped as Koragg faced them. Nearby civilians took off, screaming in fear at the sight of the Knight. The Rangers released Electra, getting ready to fight if they needed to.

"Just so we're clear, our alliance is over Rangers," Koragg told them coldly.

"That enough of a notice for you?" Electra glanced to Vincent, who just frowned in reply.

"It doesn't have to be," Maddie told him softly as Nick watched him suspiciously.

"I only serve the Master," Koragg replied firmly.

"Got it," Nick nodded, frowning. "We're back to being enemies. But don't forget Koragg, we've got more power than ever," the Red Ranger warned him, determined to take down the Knight. The others nodded, just as determined.

"Which will make my victory all the more satisfying when I defeat you," Koragg replied, turning and walking off.

1-2-3-4-5

"I just can't can't understand why my employees bailed on the store's first anniversary party!" Toby was yelling as the Rangers walked into Rock Porium.

"Sorry we're late Toby!" Maddie called as the workers pushed through the crowd. Electra and Charlie stood back, grinning as Vida carried a cake they had made for him.

"We forgot the cake," Xander explained as he stared at them in shock.

"We made it ourselves," Nick told their boss with a grin.

"What a surprise," Electra glanced to Charlie, who stifled a giggle. The cake wasn't exactly perfect, but they had made it themselves.

"Yep, the old fashioned way, with hard work," Vida grinned as they stood in front of Toby. Their boss stepped off the stage and stared at the poorly decorated cake as Maddie lit the candle.

"She said hard work, not good work," Chip grinned.

"Definitely not good work," Vincent chuckled.

"I love it!" Toby declared, and everyone cheered. "I'll just make a wish," he closed his eyes and breathed in as the Rangers cried out in fear.

"Don't think they'll be going near wishes any time soon," Charlie commented, and both she and Electra burst out laughing.

1-2-3-4-5

Vincent walked into Rootcore, his stomach flipping with nerves as he looked about. He was exhausted after such a long day, but he needed to do this before he chickened out and moved back to Ocean Bluff and hid in a cave for the rest of his life. The rest of his team had returned to their homes, totally exhausted.

"Claire?" he spotted the apprentice sitting at the table, reading intently. She jumped, and looked up sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was reading about spells," she stood up quickly. "Electra's always reading these books, and she's really good at this stuff, so I figured if I read more about them, I'd be-"

"Please, don't ever become anything like Electra," Vincent cut off Claire's ramblings with a laugh. "She may be good at this stuff, but she's terrible at other stuff. Including baking a cake," Claire blinked several times, before Vincent raised his arm. "Take a look," he grinned widely, and she looked down.

"That's like Electra's..." Claire frowned, before her eyes lit up in realisation. "That's the Master's tattoo, isn't it?" her mouth fell open as Vincent nodded proudly. "You did it!" she smiled, and congratulated him brightly, which only succeeded in making his stomach flip more.

"Claire, I didn't come here to show you this," Vincent pulled down the sleeve of his jacket as Claire looked up at him again. "I came back to talk to you about earlier," Claire's face immediately flushed bright red again. "I've been thinking about it for a while now, but what happened with this wish and losing magic," Vincent spoke quickly, aware that his own face was burning. "I really like you Claire. You're sweet, you're passionate about all of this, you're caring, and you're all that I can think about! When I'm here, trying to learn stuff, you walk past and I forget everything. When I'm at work, I lose track of everything! Xander's getting pretty mad at me for it," Vincent admitted.

"Really?" Claire was staring at him, unable to hide her smile.

"Yes!" Vincent let out a shaky laugh, nodding his head.

"Well I...uh..I..." Claire struggled to find the right words, especially with Vincent watching her intently. "I-I li-like yo-you-" her struggle to get the words out was cut off as Vincent pulled her into a tight hug. Claire couldn't help but giggle, and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hey, what's going on in-" Jenji walked in, only to be yanked back by Udonna and Daggeron, neither wanting to interrupt the moment between the Mystic Warrior and apprentice sorceress.

**Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!**


	22. Family

Chapter 22: Family

People ran screaming from the square in the middle of Briarwood, as the latest attempt to defeat the Rangers and take over Briarwood took place. Charlie hit the ground hard, certain that the last hit was going to leave a bruise.

"This guy is getting annoying," Vincent spoke as he got back to his feet. "Mystic Protector!" he summoned his shield, and slammed it into the monster. Their opponent staggered back, straight into the path of Nick. Using the Mystic Fighters, he jabbed at the monster several times, and it hit the ground.

"That's enough!" the monster was back on his feet in seconds. He stomped the ground, and the resulting wave threw them all backwards. Vincent's shield clattered away from him as he crashed into a building beside Electra, and both fell to the ground with pained grunts. "You're nothing, I don't know how Imperious has had so much trouble with you losers!" he mocked, turning to Charlie as she tried to get up, and fell back down. "You're done!" he yelled, firing several blasts of magic at the Silver Ranger.

"Charlie!" Vida cried out in horror as Charlie looked up, her pale blue eyes widening in fear. Before they'd realised it, Xander had grabbed Vincent's shield and leapt in the way of the attack. The magic slammed into the shield and Xander dug his heels in, shoving back. The attack was repelled, and slammed into the monster again as he cried out. Xander stumbled backwards, falling to the ground as Nick finished off the monster.

"Everyone ok?" Nick asked as he demorphed, looking around.

"I've been better," Electra responded as she got to her feet, demorphing as well. "I look forward to the day where I won't be covered in bruises," she sighed as she checked out the blotches across her arms.

"Maybe if you took less hits you wouldn't be covered in them," Vincent smirked, and Electra punched his arm hard.

"Hey, now we match!" she exclaimed with mock joy. Vincent just glowered at her as Maddie and Nick laughed, and Daggeron rolled his eyes at their antics. Xander got to his feet, and turned to face Charlie, who was getting to her feet.

"You alright?" he grinned at her, only to be taken by surprise when she shoved him, hard. Xander tripped over his feet and fell back to the ground. He stared up at her, his dark brown eyes wide in surprise.

"You're such an idiot!" Charlie yelled at him, her eyes closed tightly. Everyone turned to look at them in surprise. Charlie didn't yell. Especially not at Xander. "You could have been killed! Why...why would you do that?" she demanded, her voice quivering at the end.

"Charlie...I-" Xander started, but Charlie turned and ran off before he could speak. Electra ran after her, while everyone else remained utterly confused.

"Well, our lives are never boring," Chip commented as he glanced to Vida, who looked just as blank as the others.

1-2-3-4-5

Charlie sat on one of the swings in the playground, swinging lightly as she stared ahead blankly. Kids ran past, apparently already recovered from the monster attack as they played happily under the watchful eyes of their parents. Charlie blinked as Electra sat on the swing beside her, but didn't speak.

"I get it, y'know," Electra spoke after a moment, swinging to and fro. "You don't want people to have to protect you. Especially not someone you care a lot about," her voice was soft.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him..." Charlie finally spoke.

"I'm sure he gets it," Electra chuckled lightly, pushing herself using the tips of her feet. "He does it by instinct. We all do. It's not just Xander," she told Charlie, who finally looked at her, her eyes curious. "Blake shielded Tori from an attack that nearly killed him. Though he was under a love spell..." she remembered, and Charlie quirked an eyebrow. "Letha used her powers to protect Dustin, and it nearly killed us all. Tori protected Blake from an attack as well," Electra's eyes went dark as she remembered their fight with Benji. At least bits of it. She had been knocked out after all.

"So what you're saying is that I'm going to have to get used to it?" the Silver Ranger questioned, not looking too happy about it.

"Pretty much," Electra nodded, laughing quietly. "He cares about you a lot, and you care about him a lot too," Charlie went red as Electra's brown eyes darted to her. "You'll probably not even realise that you do it, but you'll protect him just as quickly, when you get the chance," she grinned, and stood up. "So come on, let's get back to Rock Porium and you can apologise, if you want," Electra teased her lightly as Charlie looked up at her.

"Alright..." Charlie suddenly felt nervous, but got to her feet anyway and the two headed back to where the others were working.

1-2-3-4-5

Soft music played through Rock Porium as for once as Vincent played his guitar. He stopped occasionally to glance at his arm; at his Master's mark, still unable to believe that he had gained it a few days ago.

"Will you stop moping?" he sighed as he resumed playing, not looking up at Xander, who was just spinning slowly on a chair.

"I don't know what I did wrong..." he muttered, and Vincent rolled his eyes.

"The girls on this team are stubborn and a little on the arrogant side," he reminded Xander, continuing to play. "They don't like to be protected. Especially if the person they like could get themselves killed doing it," Vincent chuckled to himself as Xander went red. "And let's face it," Vincent stopped playing with a loud 'twang', and looked up with a smirk. "You two have it bad for each other," he taunted.

"Oh shut up," Xander grumbled, and Vincent ducked as he tossed a cushion at him.

"Are you two having girl talk?" Electra's voice made them look around quickly. She walked into Rock Porium, watching the two with an amused smile.

"No, we're having guy talk," Vincent corrected her with a roll of his eyes.

"Charlie stopped off to get food, she'll be back in a minute," Electra glanced to Xander, a grin worming its way onto her face as he glowered at her, red returning to his face. Hearing someone walk into the store, the three looked around, and Electra's smirk dropped as she looked around in surprise. "Aaron?" she spoke as the motocross racer walked in, looking about curiously.

"Electra? Hey," he grinned as he walked over. "I wouldn't have pegged you as someone who hangs out in a place like this," he commented.

"Normally I wouldn't," Electra replied with a laugh. "My brother works here and I like to torment him. Well, I say work but..." she trailed off and glanced to Vincent, who just rolled his eyes.

"So, you're Vincent," Aaron chuckled as he looked at Vincent, who grinned and nodded.

"That'd be me. It's cool to meet a friend of our dad's from his racing days," he stood up to shake Aaron's hand.

"What brings you to Rock Porium anyway?" Electra asked. "And uh, ignore the 'supervisor', he's sulking," she glanced to Xander, who had gone back to sulking as he waited for Charlie.

"I came to meet my daughter. She told me that she spends some time here," Electra and Vincent's smiles dropped as they blinked, looking confused.

"Your daughter?" they asked in unison.

"Dad?" they all looked around to find Charlie standing in the doorway, her eyes wide as she held a bar of chocolate in her hand, halfway to her mouth.

"Dad?!" the three other Rangers chorused as even Xander snapped out of his daze to look up.

"Charlie," Aaron smiled warmly as Charlie rushed over and hugged him. "It's good to see you again, I missed you sweetheart," he hugged her back tightly as the others continued to stare.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked as she released him and looked up.

"I came to see you," Aaron chuckled at her question.

"Hold up a second. Charlie's your daughter?" Electra gaped, unable to process this. The two looked around at them, seeming confused that both knew her. Electra leaned back against the chair, putting a hand to her head. "Oh I am so done," she grumbled.

"You know my dad?" Charlie blinked several times.

"You know Charlie?" Aaron frowned, before his face lit up in recognition. "You're them, aren't you?" he breathed, looking from Xander, to Vincent, to Electra. "The Mystic Warriors," all three froze at his soft words, confirming his suspicions.

"Yep, so done," Electra's head dropped back as Charlie's gaze moved to Xander. As his shocked eyes met hers, she gave an apologetic smile, and he smiled back.

"To think, I've been racing with one of the Mystic Force. I didn't expect it," Aaron chuckled, and Electra smiled wryly.

"Just as weird as racing with my friend's dad, who knows my dad, and is just as big in the motocross world as he is," she stated, making him laugh lightly again.

"You have a good point," he agreed, before looking back to Charlie. "Can I talk to you for a bit?" he asked, and Charlie bit her lip.

"I need to talk to-"

"It won't take long," Aaron insisted, putting an arm on her back and steering her out of the shop. Charlie glanced back around at the others, before she and her father disappeared out of Rock Porium. Electra and Vincent looked to each other, before glancing at Xander, who looked at them blankly.

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"So where have you been staying all this time?" Aaron asked as he and Charlie walked through Briarwood.

"I've been living with Electra and Vincent," Charlie explained. "They had an extra room, and when they found out I needed a place, they offered for me to stay with them," she told Aaron, who laughed lightly.

"Just like their father I guess. There was a time that he did the same for me," he thought back to his friendship with Glen. "It's good to see you Charlie," he commented.

"You too dad...I missed you..." Charlie muttered as she looked at the ground, shoving her hands into her pockets awkwardly. She hadn't seen him since she had run off to fight as the Silver Ranger. "I'm sorry about just running off," she looked up at him, and he gave a weak smile.

"I understand why you did it. You're just like your mother, you know," Aaron's words took Charlie by surprise. He rarely mentioned her mother, who had died when Charlie was young. "The world is being threatened, and you're definitely not the kind to sit back and let that pass," he commented. Charlie nodded. That was definitely true.

"You know that's not the only reason," Charlie spoke up, and Aaron's smile faded. "You know why the dark forces are after me dad," she sighed as she looked back down at the ground as she kept walking.

"That's why I asked you to hide," Charlie's hands clenched into fists.

"I won't hide. Hiding would put everyone in even more danger," she shook her head, her blonde hair flying about wildly. "I'm not a coward. And I'm not the only one they want," Charlie's words made Aaron frown. "They want Electra's powers too. But she refuses to hide, and I won't either," she spoke with determination.

"Electra is stubborn and determined, just like her father," Aaron stopped, and Charlie looked around at him. "Charlie, these fights are dangerous, you could be killed at any point! I saw the fight this morning, it was shown on TV. If the Green Ranger hadn't stepped in, you would have been badly hurt," Charlie's clenched fists tightened. "I don't want you to fight Charlie, it's just too dangerous," he told her, a desperation in his eyes that quelled Charlie's anger a little.

"I'm not going to stop," Charlie responded, keeping her voice controlled. "Not when my friends are relying on me. Not when both this realm and the magical one are in danger," she told him firmly.

"How sweet," a voice laughed mockingly, and Charlie spun around as Necrolai walked towards them, followed by a group of Hidiacs.

"Get lost hag, we've already dealt with your latest loser today," Charlie spat as she fell into a fighting stance. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as she watched the powerful Vampire in front of her. The last thing she wanted was for her father to be dragged into the middle of a fight.

"Too bad, brat. We're going to take your powers, whether you like it or not. Attack!" Necrolai shrieked, and the Hidiacs shot at Charlie. The Silver Ranger moved into action, fighting off the monsters as Aaron backed away, reluctant to leave his daughter to fight them alone.

"Dad go! I've got this!" as if sensing this, Charlie turned and called to her father, before throwing a Hidiac over her shoulder. She caught the one rushing at Aaron, and threw it back, spinning and slamming her heel into its chest.

"Foolish girl," Necrolai stepped in as she saw the Hidiacs being overwhelmed by the girl. Charlie looked around at her and knocked the last of the Hidiacs aside as her silvery-blue eyes narrowed. She hit a couple of buttons on her morpher, activating it.

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed into her silver suit and drew her Magi Staff. "Dad, go!" she barked at him again, and this time Aaron backed up, finding a place to hide.

"Poor little Silver Ranger, all alone," Necrolai mocked as she walked towards Charlie.

"I'm not alone!" Charlie shook her head and tightened her grip on her Staff. "Just because my friends aren't here, doesn't mean I'm alone!" she told Necrolai firmly, but the Vampire Queen just started laughing.

"Friends?" she asked sceptically. "You haven't even told them why we want you!" Charlie stiffened as Necrolai just laughed at her. "You _will_ resurrect the Master, and your precious friends will lose!" Necrolai shot at Charlie as she spoke, and the Silver Ranger just managed to block her attack.

"We've beaten you every time you've tried!" Charlie shoved her back. "You even wished for the Power Rangers never to exist and you failed! You're not going to win!" she struck back, hitting Necrolai with several strikes that made the Vampire cry out. The two fought hard, each landing painful blows.

"I've had enough of you!" Necrolai screeched as she staggered back, her body stinging from the strikes Charlie had delivered. She snapped her fingers, and more Hidiacs appeared, swarming Charlie. The teen looked around and fought back, but she was aching as well from the blows that Necrolai had landed. Before long, her Magi Staff was knocked from her hands, and she was knocked to the ground, demorphing.

"No!" Aaron yelled as he ran from his hiding place.

"Pathetic..." Necrolai scoffed, and shot at Charlie again, this time grabbing the semi-conscious girl and flying off. The Hidiacs grunted and snarled before disappearing through a seal, leaving Aaron wide-eyed and horrified.

**Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!**


	23. Spark of Life

Chapter 23: Spark of Life

Nick and Maddie walked into Rock Porium, ready for their shift, and were confused at the sight in front of them. Xander was spinning on a seat, staring ahead blankly as he remained deep in thought, while Electra sat nearby with her face in her hands, and Vincent was playing his guitar again.

"You know, I'm beginning to get why Electra constantly says we don't work," Nick glanced to Maddie with a grin, and she smiled back, nodding before looking to Electra.

"What's up guys?" she asked, and Vincent was the only one to react.

"Turns out Electra's been racing with Charlie's dad for the last few months. And he's an old friend of our dad's," Nick and Maddie stared at the Gold Ranger as he looked up from his guitar. "Add that to the fact that Chip is her best friend's cousin, she's just done," Vincent just laughed softly and returned to his playing as Electra groaned and her face hit the table.

"That's just weird," Nick commented as he walked behind the counter.

"You're telling me," Electra sighed as she moved her head to the side, still resting it on the table.

"And let me guess, Xander's still sulking?" Nick glanced to the Green Ranger, who glared at him without saying a word. "Of course," Nick smirked, and turned to help a customer.

"You guys might want to actually get working before Toby comes in and gets mad at you," Maddie warned as she carried a box of CDs to the shelves. "We can only milk the awesome anniversary party we threw for so long," she reminded them, and Vincent grinned. He returned his guitar to his case, and got up, stretching before heading off to actually do some work.

"Electra, go do something instead of just sitting there being overwhelmed," Vincent glanced at his sister a few minutes later, and she sat up properly.

"I could always go for some food," she considered. Thudding footsteps echoed towards the shop moments before Aaron burst in, breathing heavily. "Aaron? What's wrong?" Electra frowned as she got to her feet, walking over.

"Charlie...she's gone!" his words had an immediate effect on the Rangers. They gathered around, Xander practically bowling him over.

"What do you mean she's gone?!" he demanded, eyes wide.

"Xander, chill," Electra held out a hand and pushed him back to give Aaron a moment.

"We were talking, and that Vampire attacked. She took Charlie," he told the Rangers, who went cold. They knew that the dark forces had been after Charlie from the moment she had been revealed.

"We'll find her," Nick told Aaron confidently. "Come on guys, we better get back to Rootcore," he looked to the other Rangers, who nodded and followed him out of Rock Porium.

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"I can't believe that hag took Charlie," Vida growled as the others filled them in on what had happened.

"They've been after her since she appeared, it was only a matter of time when she was alone," Electra worked with Maddie at the globe, working to locate Charlie. "I don't think they're going to take her straight to the Underworld, at least not right away. We're in luck there," Electra commented, looking up at the others.

"Why not?" Aaron asked from where he stood, his arms folded.

"Because they'll use her to lure us out," Nick told him. "So then they can get Electra too. Just like they did with her friends," Electra nodded, focusing on her task.

"But we need to know. Why do the Dark Forces want Charlie?" Daggeron asked, standing with Udonna. Aaron remained quiet for a moment as everyone looked at him, before he sighed.

"Because of the power that she inherited from her mother," Aaron ran a hand through his blond and grey hair.

"Her mother?" Xander, who had been pacing impatiently, stopped to frown at him.

"As you might have guessed, Charlie isn't fully human. Her mother was a faerie," Aaron's words made them all stare in shock. They had always wondered what Charlie's other half had been since they had discovered that she was only half human. "Like her mother, she has the power of aether."

"We know about that," Electra nodded. "It's her elemental power," the others nodded in agreement, wondering what could be so powerful that their enemies wanted Charlie.

"Because it gives her the Spark of Life," Udonna dropped the bottle she was holding for her potion and Daggeron's arms fell to his sides as the Rangers looked blank.

"The Spark of Life?" Chip repeated. "Sounds cool, but what is it?" he asked, looking around at the others.

"The Spark of Life is truly a dangerous power to possess," Daggeron frowned, running a hand through his curly black hair.

"It grants its user the power to bring someone back to life," Udonna explained, looking grim. "It could be used to resurrect the Master," she breathed, her expression becoming more grave as she thought about it.

"But using that much of it would kill her," Aaron added.

"We need to save her," Xander's fists were clenched as he looked to Electra and Maddie. While Maddie was still looking horrified, Electra was already back to work.

"We will," her eyes darted up for a moment to survey the worried Australian, before returning to the globe.

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Charlie struggled against her bonds as she glared furiously at her captors. Necrolai stood nearby, cackling to herself about finally being victorious and how this would prove she was better than Koragg.

"You won't get away with this Necrolai!" Charlie interrupted her as she pulled against the ropes that held her to a tree. They cut into her wrists, but she didn't pay any heed to them, desperate to escape.

"Oh, yes I will," she spoke as her latest monster stood nearby with the Hidiacs.

"Why haven't you taken me down there yet?" Charlie demanded, looking at the Hidiacs and back to Necrolai.

"Because I haven't gotten the complete set yet," Necrolai replied, and Charlie frowned before she realised what the bat-like creature was talking about.

"Electra..." Charlie whispered, and pulled at the rope again, wincing as it cut into her wrists tightly. "You need her powers to bring the Master back to his full power! I can return him to this world, but not his power," she growled, and Necrolai nodded. "It's not going to happen! The others will stop you before you can even think about capturing Electra," the Silver Ranger told her, but Necrolai laughed.

"Not this time," another monster came into view, and Charlie's eyes narrowed in her anger. "You don't expect them to take down all three of us, do you?" Necrolai asked, but Charlie didn't reply, only continuing to pull at her bonds. "This will be perfect!" Necrolai clapped her hands together.

"No it won't! You'll never win!" Charlie yelled, and Necrolai sighed.

"Shut her up, would you?" Necrolai looked at one of the monsters.

"No problem!" it laughed, walking over to Charlie, who didn't back away. She glared defiantly at the monster, before it cast some kind of spell that made her black out.

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"Found them!" Xander stopped his pacing as everyone looked around at Electra and Maddie. "Dark energy on the edge of the forest," the two left the globe to run over to the rest of the Rangers.

"This is surely a trap to draw you out Electra," Aaron frowned as he took a step towards them. "You are willing to risk yourself for Charlie?" he asked, and she nodded with a grin.

"Of course. Charlie would do the same for me," she told him.

"Ready guys?" Nick called as they lined up.

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" Aaron watched as the Rangers called on their Mystic Racers and flew from Rootcore.

"Be careful...and please...bring Charlie back..." he pleaded in a whisper.

"Come on guys!" Nick shouted as they flew over the forest as fast as they could towards where Charlie was being held.

"We'll get you Charlie," Xander breathed as he leaned forwards to try and speed up.

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Necrolai was growing impatient, waiting for the Rangers to show up as Charlie lay motionless on the ground, her wrists raised a little as they hung from the tree. Finally she heard the tell-tale purr of their Mystic Racers, and looked up just in time to see them jump from the Racers and land in front of her as Daggeron jumped from his magic carpet.

"You're repeating yourself Necrolai. It's getting boring," Electra told the Vampire as she straightened up, her Mystic Slicer already in her hand.

"It may be repetitive, but it succeeds in drawing you out, does it not?" Necrolai asked with a cackle, before screeching to the Hidiacs and monsters.

"Xander!" the Green Ranger looked around and caught Electra's Naginata. She didn't speak, simply nodding before rushing at Necrolai. Xander took out the Hidiacs that ran at him before rushing over to Charlie, using the Mystic Slicer to stop any of the Hidiacs that followed him, before he used it to cut through the rope that held Charlie. Her hands hit the ground, and Xander threw the weapon back to Electra, who caught it and slashed upwards, hitting Necrolai.

"Come on Charlie..." Xander crouched beside the fallen Silver Ranger and pulled her up into his arms.

"Mmm...Xander?" her eyes fluttered open and she looked up blearily at him. "I knew you'd find me..." she smiled, and Xander grinned under his helmet.

"Course I would. I'm too awesome not to," he told her, making her giggle.

"Oh sure," she agreed, but there was a hint of mockery to her voice.

"Can you stand?" Xander asked, and Charlie nodded. He helped her to her feet, kicking away the lone Hidiac that had escaped the others to come at them. Xander then caught the morpher that Vincent threw towards them, and held it out to Charlie.

"Thanks Xander," she smiled up at him, and attached it to her wrist, flinching a little from the rope burns. "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" she morphed into her silver suit and nodded at Xander before the two joined the battle.

Before long, with their help the Hidiacs were defeated and the group of nine Rangers faced off the two monsters, who were powerful and forced them back as Necrolai laughed.

"Oh, I am so over this," Electra grumbled as she got to her feet again, her eyes narrowed.

"Come on guys, let's do this!" Nick called, and they nodded. "LEGENDARY SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" the younger Rangers activated their more powerful forms, gaining their Lion Staffs as their suits changed. They then charged at the two monsters as Daggeron took on Necrolai, easily pushing her back.

"Code One!" Vincent called as he faced one of the monsters. "Thunder clap!" he swung his staff into the golden energy circle that formed in front of him, and the resulting sound wave slammed into his opponent. As the monster stumbled backwards, Maddie and Electra caught him from behind with their own weapons, knocking his feet out from under him so he crashed to the ground.

"What was that about not being able to take three of you?" Charlie mocked as Vida used her staff to create a powerful burst of wind that hit the other monster and threw it into Necrolai as Xander's Rock Slide forced the last one standing towards them.

"Let's go!" Nick called, spinning the dial in his Lion Staff. "Code two!" the others followed suit, and Necrolai gasped before flying into the air.

"Legend warriors, united formation! FIRE!" bright light shot from their staffs and hit the two still floored monsters, narrowing missing the Vampire as she flew off, and the two monsters were destroyed. Charlie sank to the ground, exhausted, as the others gathered around her to ensure that she was alright.

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"I'm sorry for earlier," Aaron spoke softly as he and Charlie walked through Briarwood, towards Rock Porium. Charlie's injured wrists were bandaged and she was covered in more bruises than usual, but she didn't seem at all fazed by them.

"You don't need to apologise," her voice was soft as she looked up at her dad. "You're worried, and just as you're voicing those fears, I get captured. I understand why you don't want me to fight," Charlie looked ahead, her eyes a little sad.

"But you're not going to stop, are you?" Aaron smiled wryly as Charlie glanced at him for a moment. She then shook her head, her expression becoming more determined. "Just keep safe. Which, after meeting your friends, I know they'll help with," he commented, and Charlie smiled softly. "Your friends definitely care for you. Especially the green one," Charlie's face mottled red, and Aaron laughed.

"The-there's nothing 'especially' to it," Charlie stammered, which only made Aaron laugh more.

"You're as bad a liar as me. That's always a good thing," he put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, stopping her. "Just know that if anything happens, I'll be there with my shotgun," he promised, and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"You don't have a shotgun. You don't like guns," she reminded him, and Aaron smirked.

"Then I'll just hunt him down on my bike. Now that would be fun," he mused to himself, and Charlie groaned.

"Dammit dad," she sighed, and was pulled into a tight hug.

"I'm only joking sweetheart," he told her. "I'll see you soon. Just be careful," Aaron told her as he released her.

"Always," Charlie grinned back, and waved before heading into Rock Porium as Aaron headed off. Charlie hesitated at the door for a moment, before taking a breath and walking inside. Music blared, louder and heavier than Vincent's guitar, as Vida stood behind the decks. Electra sat with a magazine as Maddie cleaned and Nick carried boxes around.

"Charlie," Xander's eyes lit up as he saw her walk in, and rushed up to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he looked at the bandages around her wrists.

"I'm alright, just a bit sore," Charlie waved it off. "Udonna had some kind of potion stuff for me to put on my wrists, so they'll be fine in no time," she grinned, and saw the relief in the Green Ranger's face. "I'm sorry, about earlier. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that," Charlie apologised, looking away.

"You had every right to be mad," Xander shrugged. "But I won't apologise for what I did," he grinned, and Charlie rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you're alright though. I was really worried when your dad came here and told us what happened," he admitted, and Charlie looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. Her fists clenched and unclenched, and she took a breath before reaching out. Xander's smile dropped as he looked down at her hands, which grabbed his shirt. Before he realised what was going on, Charlie had pulled him down, reaching up and meeting him halfway in a kiss.

Everything seemed to go silent as Xander was stunned by her actions. As she went to pull away, he pulled her back in, and felt her smile a little as her grip on his shirt tightened.

"Looks like you owe me dinner for the week," Electra commented to Vida, not looking up from her magazine as Vida swore under her breath. Nick just rolled his eyes at the pair as he walked past, and Maddie became very focused on cleaning the shelves, making sure not to look at the Red Ranger as he passed her.

**Thanks to all my awesome reviewers, you guys are awesome! One of the reviews actually had me in tears, but that could have been a combination of that, and Attack on Titan...**

**I hope that you'll continue enjoying this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it!**


	24. Heir Apparent Part 1

Chapter 24: Heir Apparent Part 1

Training with Daggeron was well under way and the majority of the Rangers, minus Electra, sat and watched from the sidelines with Udonna as Daggeron and Nick sparred, a rope attached to their wrists as they used swords.

"Anyone taking bets?" Vincent asked with a grin, his brown eyes focused entirely on the battle.

"You're starting to sound like Electra," Vida grinned as she cheered for Nick.

"That is a terrifying thought," Vincent shivered, making the others laugh. Udonna shot them a frown, mostly for mentioning the absent Ranger who continued to refuse to show up to Daggeron's training lessons. Her attention returned to the match as Daggeron tripped the Red Ranger and stood over him.

"Sorry, young warrior," Daggeron grinned, his sword pressed against Nick's. "Next time I'll take it easy on you," he told his opponent, who grinned back.

"Don't even think about it," he told his teacher, and kicked him. Daggeron stumbled back, giving Nick the chance to jump back to his feet.

"Why doesn't he use his laser lamp?" Xander asked Udonna curiously, wondering why Daggeron was without his usual weapon.

"In bound battle training, only swords can be used," the sorceress explained with a smile. "And no magic. Daggeron is very skilled in this technique," she told the Rangers as they watched, grinning. Daggeron pushed Nick back, and tightened the rope to stop him.

"Because I was taught by the best!" he smiled over at them proudly. "Now Nick is going to be beat- I mean taught – by the best," Daggeron purposely corrected himself, making the others laugh.

"I see that humility doesn't set in as one reaches middle age," Nick taunted, making his friends 'ooh' as Daggeron's grin dropped instantly.

"Middle age?!" he repeated as Nick started to laugh. The two resumed their fight as the Rangers laughed.

"Nick's got this wrapped up," Vida spoke confidently as she sat beside her sister.

"Oh, it's not over yet," Xander shook his head, just before Nick disarmed Daggeron and caught his sword. He looked at it for a moment, before grinning to the Knight. He threw the sword back to him, taking Daggeron by surprise.

"Ah, you had him! Don't give him his sword back!" Vida complained loudly, shaking her head as the two went back to fighting. Nick jumped over a tree, using the rope to his advantage and pulling Daggeron closer. He tripped his teacher, flipping him, and as Daggeron hit the ground, Nick pressed his sword to his chest while the others cheered.

"Good work Nick," Daggeron spoke, impressed. "You took me fair and square, and you did it with honour," he sat up and stabbed his wooden sword into the ground. Nick helped him to his feet with a modest smile.

"I just got lucky," he shrugged as they removed the rope from their wrists.

"There's no luck here," Daggeron told him. "Your skill is growing stronger," he commented as he walked back to the rest of them. "In fact, you have all improved," he told them.

"Thanks to you," Maddie shrugged as Nick took a seat beside her.

"You were taught by the best, and so are we," Chip grinned, making Daggeron smile. "Maybe one day we can be as good as Leánbow!" he exclaimed, and Daggeron's smile instantly dropped as Udonna's eyes widened and she looked at the Yellow Ranger sharply. His excited grin dropped as he realised what he had said.

"I'm sorry Udonna, I told Chip about your husband," Daggeron apologised to the stunned sorceress as everyone else looked really confused. "He promised not to say a word," he glanced to the sheepish Ranger.

"And I didn't! Until now..." he added.

"So, uh, mind telling _us _what's going on?" Charlie asked as she saw the others were just as confused as she was. Udonna didn't speak, looking a little shell-shocked.

"Udonna, he was a great man!" Daggeron insisted, as if sensing her reluctance to speak of him. "A hero. Perhaps it's time they learnt about him," he suggested.

"Yes..." Udonna finally spoke, her voice soft and sad. "It's time we told you the whole story," she looked to the Rangers, who remained completely blank.

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The group returned to Rootcore, and contacted Electra. She returned, curious as to what was going on. She stood with the other Rangers, ignoring Daggeron's frown, as she looked to her friends with a confused expression.

"Before the Great War, Leánbow and I lived happily, with our baby," Udonna started her story, taking them by surprise. "His name was Bowen," she added, her smile sad as she thought about the husband and child that she had lost.

"Leánbow was my mentor," Daggeron explained. "The forces of evil attacked, and we fought them on all fronts. Leánbow fought bravely, but Morticon and his troops were too strong," he shook his head as he thought about it. "We needed a plan, so Leánbow met with Niella and myself," Daggeron told them.

"He always did things his way," Udonna smiled, looking to Daggeron.

"I remember," he nodded. "And it was always the honourable way. Niella and I prepared for the final battle, then we were joined by someone we thought we could trust," Daggeron frowned as he thought about Calindor.

"But I thought Calindor was your enemy," Chip frowned as he remembered the pair telling them about the one now known as Imperious.

"He is," Udonna confirmed. "But once being a dear friend, it made the betrayal cut all the deeper. When the battle was taken to the surface world, I knew the forces of darkness would be after our child," the sorceress sighed. "Bowen, born of magical blood, would have the power and the potential to stop their evil domination," the Rangers were silent as they listened intently to the story.

"As I left with Bowen, I was attacked by Calindor," Daggeron spoke next. "Dark magic gave Calindor more power than ever. In the end, our magics collided, and we were both cursed. As for Bowen, we now know Phineas found him, and brought him to the safety of the human world," Daggeron finished.

"So your son is alive, somewhere," Maddie realised.

"Yes, somewhere," Udonna repeated. "Leánbow led the fight, and banished the armies of the darkness to the underworld. Then he continued the battle behind the gates, alone. Niella and Leánbow gave their lives to save us all," Udonna looked sad as she thought about both her sister and her husband.

"Their sacrifices will not be in vain," Xander spoke as he stood up.

"They will be remembered," Vida agreed.

"We'll finish their fight for them," Charlie stood beside them, before Nick let out a cry of pain. Everyone glanced at him quickly, and he breathed out heavily, a hand to his head.

"Koragg?" Electra frowned, and he nodded.

"He wants to fight," he told his friends.

"We're ready," Daggeron walked over, but Nick shook his head.

"No, not you Daggeron," Daggeron stared at him in confusion as Nick walked over to the others. "You're to meet with Imperious, separately. To finish off an old battle," Nick rolled his eyes.

"It is surely a trap," Udonna frowned, not liking the sound of it.

"Like that's ever stopped us before," Vincent shrugged.

"Man's got a point," Electra clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to go anyway. We need to stop Koragg," she looked to Udonna with a look of determination.

"I don't know about you guys," Nick started as he stood in front of his friends, glanced around at them as the lined up. "But I'm ready for this," the rest of the Rangers nodded, just as ready.

"As am I," Daggeron looked to Udonna before walking off.

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"Welcome," Koragg greeted as the already morphed Rangers ran towards him.

"Alright, what do you want?" Nick demanded.

"Your legend warrior powers," Koragg's answer made them roll their eyes.

"You must be joking," Xander scoffed as he put a hand to his chest.

"Like we'd actually give them to you," Charlie growled, a hand over her morpher protectively.

"We'll show you what the Legend Warrior mode is meant for!" Electra spoke as they each stepped forwards.

"LEGENDARY SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!" their suits changed and they summoned their staffs, ready to fight the purple coloured Knight.

"Excellent," Koragg nodded. "Your new magic is strong, that's why I must have it!" he drew his sword and pointed it at them. The Rangers yelled our their refusals and leapt at Koragg. With their new powers, the Rangers fought off Koragg with greater ease than they had done in the past. However, he continued to put up a fight. "Give me your legend warrior powers!" Koragg demanded. "The Master will grant you a place by his side," he told them.

"Oh wow really? Now that's some offer!" Vincent spoke with mock excitement. "Like hell we'd ever accept it!" he snapped.

"We only use our magic for good!" Xander reminded him.

"That's right!" Maddie agreed.

"There's no way we'd ever help the Master!" Electra shook her head, her grip on her staff tight.

"Let's show him Rangers!" Nick called, and spun the dial on his staff. "Code one! Firestorm!" he blasted Koragg with fire, making him cry out. He crashed to the ground and rolled along, but as he ran at Koragg to attack again, a strange purple portal opened and a strange monster appeared through it, slamming into the Red Ranger. Nick flew through the air and hit the ground by the other Rangers, who ran to his side.

"What the hell is that?" Charlie's eyes were wide as they stared at the monster.

"Imperious, you've cast a forbidden spell!" Koragg realised from behind the monster, sounding horrified.

"You're all mine Rangers!" the monster yelled, its voice warped like it was several voices speaking at once.

"That's one ugly monster," Nick commented. "Come on guys, code one!" Nick activated his spell again, and blasted the monster with his firestorm. However, it repelled the attack, and slammed it into the Rangers. They cried out in pain and crashed to the ground, hurting badly from the attack.

"That didn't make a dent!" Chip cried out.

"Looks like we're in trouble," Maddie gulped. As soon as they got back up, the monster blasted them straight back off their feet, and they hit the ground again.

"This guy is seriously strong," Vincent groaned, a hand to his chest.

"This isn't the way..." Koragg protested.

"Be quiet!" the monster snapped back. "Send them to the Underworld!" he ordered, and reluctantly Koragg returned his sword to his shield and cast the spell.

"What's happening?!" Nick cried out as purple light surrounded them. They started to sink through a spell seal, unable to escape.

1-2-3-4-5

The Rangers crashed to the ground, unmorphed and in a strange dark, cave-like place. They were instantly, hauled to their feet and restrained by a hoard of Hidiacs.

"Welcome to my humble home, Rangers!" Imperious greeted as they struggled angrily. "If I knew guests were coming, I would have tidied up!" he exclaimed as the Rangers fought uselessly.

"Wow, really nice to see you guys," the Rangers froze as they heard a voice they never expected to hear. They looked over at Leelee, who smirked at them.

"Leelee?! They got you too?!" Vida cried out, trying to fight off the Hidiac holding her.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of this disgusting place!" Xander called to her.

"Thank you," Leelee's smile seemed to be genuine for a moment. "I really hate it here, it's always dark and damp, not to mention getting turned into an insect at everyone's slightest whim," she commented irritably.

"Oh, I _knew _there was a reason I didn't like you!" Electra seemed to be the only one who realised why she was there.

"Complaining _again _daughter?" Necrolai appeared behind her, and the Rangers stared at her.

"Daughter..." Chip repeated, his eyes wide.

"Can we keep them here mum? Can we, huh?" Leelee looked to her mother hopefully. "They have things that zombies down here will never have, like, souls," she smirked, and Electra let out a growl.

"I'm so done with this place! Call to the beast inside! Unleash the Jackal!" she summoned her animal spirit.

"Call to the beast inside! Unlock the Fox!" Vincent followed suit, and their animal spirits rose from them with howls. They knocked the Hidiacs back and freed their friends, but more Hidiacs appeared and blasted the two spirits, forcing them to disappear. The Rangers were grabbed again, and Necrolai laughed.

"Of course my dear, once their power is gone, and their will to fight is broken, you can keep them as your pets for all eternity," Necrolai promised her daughter as they continued to fight against their captors. "Well, all but one. The Silver Ranger will be no more once we drain her power to revive the Master," Necrolai cackled.

"No!" Xander yelled angrily as Charlie choked, struggling to keep calm.

1-2-3-4-5

After continuing to struggle, the Rangers were placed in individual forcefields that seemed to be completely impenetrable. They had all tried their magic in an attempt to escape, but not even animal spirits or Electra's Dino Powers made a dent in it.

"So nice of you to bring me the gift of your Legend powers!" Imperious laughed as he watched them, waving his fan lightly.

"You're not getting _anything_ from us!" Vida snarled at the mummy-like monster.

"Oh it's not for me!" Imperious told them with glee. "It's for the Master!" he gestured to the strange circle in the middle of the room, and they saw a strange eye glowing red, staring at them. "That, plus the darkness within the Black Ranger, will make him unstoppable!" he exclaimed happily, before the bright red light shot up into the air, and the Rangers could feel the power within as the Hidiacs bowed.

"That's the thing that Leánbow sacrificed himself to defeat!" Nick realised with a yell.

"Urgh...Leánbow?" Koragg repeated the name softly, and Vincent glanced at him curiously.

"That name is not spoken here!" Imperious barked, and Koragg let out an angry growl. "Now! You will give the Master the power to rise up and conquer!" he hit Charlie with a spell, and she screamed as silver light started to flow from her chest, into the circle.

"Charlie!" Xander slammed his fists into the forcefield, ignoring the pain that shot up his arms. Electra blasted her prison with everything she had, but it barely did anything to affect the forcefield. The others yelled out, and Maddie put her hands to her mouth as tears filled her eyes.

"She cannot defend herself...there is no honour in this defeat!" Koragg protested as he watched Charlie grow weaker.

"Stop that foolish babbling!" Imperious snapped at him. "This is our day of victory!" he spoke with glee, and Koragg looked from Charlie, to the circle, and up to where Xander was still pounding furiously at his prison. "This is the end of the Mystic Force!" Imperious laughed.

"Stop!" a familiar figure leapt down, using magic to stop the Spark of Life from pouring into the Master. The light faded, and Charlie sank to her knees, barely conscious.

"Udonna!" Maddie called out to their saviour, who held her Snow Staff as she turned to Imperious. However, with a quick swipe, Imperious knocked Udonna's staff from her hands.

"How touching!" Imperious mocked. "The Sorceress comes to save her little Rangers! Now you'll feel the wrath of the Masters!" he yelled, and red light shot from the circle, wrapping around Udonna. The witch cried out as she was lifted into the air, while the Rangers watched helplessly. She was thrown to the ground as the lightning like energy continued to drain the life from Udonna, until someone they didn't expect to help, stepped in.

"Udonna!" Koragg roared, running Udonna as he drew his sword. He leapt into the air, and slammed his sword into the light, causing an massive explosion. When it cleared, Koragg's appearance had changed from his purple Ranger-like suit, to something completely different. The light faded, and Udonna was released from the Master's hold. The Rangers prisons turned to sand, and Xander rushed to Charlie's side, helping her up.

"No, it can't be!" Imperious cried out, his voice filled with fear as Koragg turned, staggering. His suit shattered, revealing a human form.

"Who's that?" Xander asked slowly as Charlie looked up, her vision swimming. The man turned around, looking straight at Udonna.

"Leánbow?" Udonna whispered, staring up at her husband in utter shock.

**I shall do my best to update soon, but I'm moving next week so I'll be without internet for a couple of days! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!**


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